A New Beginning
by audreyblaine
Summary: In which Lily Evans discovers herself. Aka, finds out about her uncontrollable handmotioning, constant inner battles, and infatuation with THE James Potter. LEJP
1. Mixed Feelings

**Hey! I'm not really sure what to write here--- my first fanfic, you see. Nothing's owned by me; it's all JK Rowling's. Well, except the things you don't recognize. But the rest is hers. The chapters should be getting longer, this one's a _bit_ short… anyways, hope you like it, and reviews would be appreciated!**

Finally. The first day of seventh year. I've been waiting for this all summer--- and guess what? I'm Head Girl, too! Normally that would be wonderful news, but this year, I'm stuck with Potter. Yes, _the_ James Potter. Head Boy! _What_ Dumbledore was thinking, I'll never know. I mean, he's not horrible looking--- what am I thinking, yes he is! And how does that have anything to do with choosing the Head Boy! Anyways. His marks are awful! Well, they're not completely terrible (not that I keep track or anything--- because I don't!), people say he's excellent at transfiguration--- wish I was--- so I suppose he's not all that bad. I mean he is! He is! Gosh. Why am I having complimentary thoughts about _Potter_? I must be having an off day.

_Anyways_. I think I'll head to Herbology early, I heard that Professor Wheaty got in a new order of Mandrakes!

Bumping into about 15 people on my way out of the hall, I realized that I forgot my gloves, so I had to run _all_ the way back up to my dormitory(I never fully appreciated just how far the Gryffindor dormitories are from the Great Hall until now), and then run _all_ the way down to the greenhouse, just a _tiny_ bit late. And I mean, come on, it's not like it's my fault, what's with the inconvenient placement of the greenhouses! Really, did they ever think of us students when they decided to map out Hogwarts in this stupid way! _And _it's the first day. Maybe I got lost! Honestly, I think I might really have a case here!

Bumping into my thinking, Professor Wheaty says, "You're late, Ms. Evans."

"Sorry, I, er, got lost," I mumble pathetically before sitting down next to my friend Eliza.

"Got lost?" Eliza snickers into my ear. Scowling at her, I turn my attention back to Professor Wheaty, who goes on to say that we're reviewing the repotting of the mandrakes(so second year!) and to put on a pair of earmuffs, which I was grateful for(no time for Eliza to tease me).

From my seat, I can see James sitting next to Sirius Black. He looks so cute, with his hair spiked all over the place from under his earmuffs…wait! No! I hate his hair! I hate him! What's wrong with me today! School must just be messing with my mind. Getting up this early, it does horrors to your thinking processes. Really. I'm not just saying this because I suddenly have the urge to run up to James and run my finger through his hair(not that I do). WAIT! When did I start calling _Potter_ by his first name? I sure am having an off-day. What was I getting at anyway? Oh. Right. Getting up early. Bad.

Several uneventful hours later, I'm sitting in the Great Hall eating dinner with Eliza. She sure does talk a lot.

"…but I really prefer lemon…"

Ah well, nothing interesting, I guess I can just go back to daydreaming about James---I mean Potter--- and how dashing his hazel eyes look when his head turns up and the light catches them and… oh, look, he's getting up. Well I suppose it's time for me to head up, too, I've got a nasty potions essay to start...

Turning around in my seat, I find myself face to face with the one, the only--- you guessed it--- James Potter.

"I--- hello--- you---" I stutter. I can just feel my cheeks getting redder.

"Lily! You look marvelous."

And redder.

"Had a good summer?" James asks me.

"Yes--- f-fantastic!" I say in a rather out-of-breath way, though there's no reason to be out of breath, really, it's not like I just ran a marathon, or---

"Spiffing! James had the pleasure of spending the _entire_ summer _graced _with my presence!" Says Sirius Black, popping out of nowhere. Eliza snorts and mumbles something, and Sirius turns to her, starting a conversation.

"Anyways," says James, "we're supposed to patrol the corridors together every night, so I was thinking we could meet in the common room around 9:30 and start then?"

"Sure… that… sounds great!" I say, in that same out-of-breath-ish way, though I really don't understand where that's coming from.

"Fantastic! I'm looking forward to it," says James earnestly, and with a "see you then" he and Sirius turn and walk out of the Hall(rather smoothly so, I might add, James has a marvelous walk…).

"Stop gaping, you look like an idiot," says Eliza, smirking at me. "What was that, anyway? You seemed really… I don't know… like you _fancied_ James or something." She snorted. "I thought you hated him?" She says in a half-statement half-question way. I really hate it when people do that, those phrases where you really can't tell whether you're supposed to respond or not--- so annoying.

"Yeah…" I say, rather distractedly, as I am still thinking about those half-question phrases. Where did they start, anyway? Hm… "Yeah, well we should really go get to work on that potions essay… I'm surprised Slughorn gave us homework on the first day…"

Eliza looks at me in a rather suspicious way, then stands up and goes rambling on about lemons or whatever again…

But really, she's right, Eliza… I _did_ hate Potter last year. I _did_ hate every stinking thing about him, his messed up hair, his constant pestering, his cheeky attitude… but now all those traits that I previously didn't care for don't seem so bad… endearing, almost…

But why? Why am I suddenly not bothered by James? Why do I suddenly want to be rather--- well--- _friendly_… with him? Why doesn't he bother me anymore? Is it possible, that all these years, I was wrong about him? Or maybe… maybe, he's changed. Maybe _I've_ changed. Maybe the cause of all these kind feelings towards James _isn't_ because I have to get up early… But whatever the reason, James suddenly doesn't seem so bad anymore…

…

**A/N: Yes, rather cliff-hanger-y, I know. Well, I hope you all like it, it's kind of short, but I promise, the chapters _will_ get longer. Reviews would be appreciated!**


	2. Patrols

I swear, time has never moved slower. The clock is ticking so _slowly_. I swear it's going backwards. It seems ages ago that I left dinner, but it's still another hour until I meet James in the common room! An hour! But as slow as times going, I haven't made any progress on my essay… funny how that works…

I think I'll go and get ready for our da--- no. It's not a--- a date. It's a… job. A job. That we do together. Me and James. Alone. So, I think I'll go get ready for our _job_. Not date!

My hair has never been more tangled. I swear, it's just a big mass of tangled _crap_, I can't do _anything_ with it. I'm seriously _attacking_ it with a wet comb, but it's doing nothing. Funny, time was going by so slowly earlier, but now I only have five minutes! I swear, the world is against me today. Time is probably having a good laugh up there, out there, down there, where ever the heck time dwells, but it's laughing at me, and that's certain.

Okay. There's really nothing I can do. Literally, but still, I can't, Andra(another annoyingly curious friend) is questioning me why I'm trying so hard to look presentable, when I hate James and all. Seriously, why does everyone seem to think that I hate James? Do I _really_ give off that impression?

As if reading my mind, Andra says, "You do hate him, don't you?" Giving me a _wonderful_ opportunity to tell her what I really think.

"Well, no, no, not _really_," I say slowly. Not exactly showing my true feelings here, but popping out and saying that I've suddenly realized that I've started to fancy James Potter and can't stop thinking about him doesn't seem to be the way to go either.

Andra stares at me with her eyebrows raised. What is with my friends and these calculating looks today anyway! Is it so _wrong_ to not completely hate James anymore? I mean, every other girl in school is positively _swooning_ over him, with his good looks, quidditch skills, and excellent marks, he's a perfect date candidate, even Professor McGonagall couldn't argue with that. What's wrong if I finally see eye to eye with all those other girls? None of _them_ get people looking at them like their insane! Well, some of them do, but that's beside the point.

Checking my watch, I realize that it's now 9:37 and I'm late for our dat--- job. Together. "See you later!" I tell Andra, and, removing my comb from my hair(with some difficulty I might add) I positively _prance_ out of the room. This isn't right. I can't _prance_. Walking in a bit of an unusual, careful way, I make my way across the common room to James, who looks positively dashing. Yes, dashing.

"You're late!" he says in a mock reproving way.

I laugh, and he looks rather taken aback. I don't hate him! "Well, let's get going," I say, gesturing towards the portrait whole.

"Yes. Right." James seems rather distracted, staring at me with a somewhat dazed expression. I wonder if he still likes me. Probably not; I _have_ been a little… rough… with him in past years. If I can just get him to see what I think now…

"So…" started James, clearly keen on interrupting the rather awkward silence, "where d'you reckon we should patrol?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said in an offhand voice. "I suppose we should just check the corridors, broom closets, you know."

"Ah. Broom closets." James eyes gleamed. I'm sure he's seen a lot of those. "There's one coming up here--- if we just go down the charms corridor on the left."

"All right," I say, veering left. Our hands brushed slightly as we turned, and I could feel my face burning, though I don't know why.

"Well, so, should we go together, or d'you want to---" I stutter. Again with the out-of-breath-ish voice! What is _with_ me today! Honestly.

"Together," he says firmly. How decisive. I like that in a man.

Gesturing for him to go first, James steps up to the door and opens it.  
HOLY SH--- SHAMROCKS! IT'S--- IT'S---

"Sirius! Eliza!" says James, looking equally surprised. "What--- what are you doing here!"

"Our potions essay," says Sirius, his words dripping with sarcasm. James didn't seem to be catching on. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Snogging, you dolt!"

"Ohh," said James, comprehension dawning on his face. "Why?"  
"We're going out, obviously," says Eliza. More eye rolling.

"Since when?" I ask, popping into the conversation. They all looked at me. What? It's not like I said anything stupid, it's a plausible question.

"Today! After dinner! Prongs, you know I've liked her forever," said Sirius, a hint of pink rising in his cheeks. "Anyway, we've got to get back to the common room anyway. Passed curfew a bit, but you don't mind, do you, Prongsie?" said Sirius, flashing James and I a smile and a wink.

Eliza gave me a small wave, and they departed down the corridor. James and I just stood there for a few moments.

"That was--- awkward," I said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah," said James, coming back to earth. "Yeah, that was. I never knew though… I didn't think Sirius liked anyone, he kind of dated around, you know?"

"Yeah, but so did you, didn't you?" I blurted out. Showing James my true feelings doesn't seem to be working very well.

His cheeks got a little pink, and he said rather defensively, "You wouldn't understand."

"Fair enough," I said, keen on keeping the peace.

"But you never seem to have been much of a dater, have you, Evans?" It was my turn to turn red. And Evans? When has he ever called me _that_? Did my comment really bother him that much? Here we were again, one of those famous James-Lily fights.

"No. No, I guess not." James seemed surprised at my response. I rather was too; since when have I ever passed up a fight with Potter?

James stared at me(calculatingly, just like everyone else today, dang it) and broke into a grin. "Fancy a stop by the kitchens, Lily?"

The kitchens? With James? At night? While we were supposed to be patrolling? Millions of thoughts went through my mind… detention… Head Girl! James… his beautiful hazel eyes.

"Yes," I say, in a mixture of a flirty and decisive voice. "That sounds marvelous."

Flashing me the famous James Potter grin, James grabs my hand(grabs my hand!) and pulls me down the corridor to the kitchens.

…

**A/N: Okay, I know I said they'd be a lot longer, but this seemed like a good place to end it. I know, I do seem to like these cliff-hangers, don't I? I'll update soon, promise. REVIEW! Please!**


	3. The Kitchens

**A/N: Woah! Thanks for the reviews, guys! You're awesome. Okay, I _promise_ that this chapter will be longer. Keep reviewing!**

You know, I used to hate how far away the kitchens were from the dormitories. But now, more time to talk with (and enjoy the presence of) James! Yes, I've admitted it--- I like James. I. Like. James. Wow, a few months ago I never would have thought that would be possible. Most people probably still don't think that would be possible.

"So, Lily…" started James, "you seem a lot--- different--- towards me. Than you were last year, I mean."

Gawd! You think! The fact that I have gone an entire day without yelling at you doesn't sway your opinion enough so you don't need to state the obvious? "Yeah, well, people change," I said bluntly. Jeez, James, I like you now. Accept it and move on.

Obviously, James couldn't go this long without being a bit of a prick. "My charming good-looks finally get to you?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows and squeezing my hand.

Same, conceited, old Potter. Ah well, at least he's cute. _And_ I hear he's tutoring first years. How noble! But, as Andra said, I couldn't let him know that. Right? Remembering back to all those tips she gave me in 4th year is tiring. I guess I should just wing it. And I should probably start winging it now, since its been about a minute since he spoke.

I snorted. "That's it, Potter." He looked slightly disappointed, a bit sad, almost. Dang. I wonder why… oh. Because I called him Potter. Andra's advice is crap. _Mental note: Tell Andra her guy advice is crappy._

"So, James," I said, taking a stab at conversation, "how was spending your summer with Sirius?"

"Oh, it was alright. Nice to not have to spend the summer alone with your parents, you know?"

"Yeah, really," I said, scowling as I thought of my sister Petunia. "You come from a pureblood family, right?"

He sighed. "Yep… Not that I'm not proud of my ancestry or whatever, but some of the stereotypes that come with that title bug me sometimes. _Especially_ this summer."

"Oh," I said dully. What is _he_ talking about? Surely, being muggleborn gets more stereotypes?

"Yeah…" he said, apparently lost in thought. "All of my family's been really smart, really good at sports and all that… and… I don't know… this summer some of my relatives came to visit. They were all over me about _only_ getting 10 O.W.L.'s, telling me that because I'm a pureblood I should have done better." He laughed. "It's funny, you'd think that people wouldn't have stereotypes against themselves, but they do."

"That is weird." Way to be smooth, Lily. "I never really knew about the stereotypes about purebloods, coming from the opposite side of the spectrum."

"Yeah, well, it goes both ways doesn't it? Here we are," he said, approaching the painting of the fruit bowl, and promptly tickling the pear. Gosh, he did that nicely. I remember going here with Eliza, horrible tickler, let me tell you. Took her ages to get that pear to---

"Master James! How nice it is to see you! And--- look--- you've brought your lady!" said a house elf from inside the kitchens. I could feel my cheeks burning. Looking up at James, I was surprised to see a rather pinkish tint on his cheeks too.

"Oh, no, she's not mine," he said, and then he muttered something under his breath that I couldn't quite hear. Really, I rather dislike when people do that, I mean, if you're not meaning to tell anyone, then why not just keep it in your head?

"Lily? What would you like to eat? Treacle tart?" James asked me.

Gross! I _hate_ treacle tart. "Sounds lovely," I hear myself saying. What! Honestly, James is nice, but I didn't think I liked him enough to stuff disgusting food down my throat.

"Perfect!" says James. "Lilykins"--- I hope he was referring to the house elf, and that he didn't get some bogus idea that I thought being called Lilykins was cute or something--- "if you could just set us up a table."

"Of course!" squeaked---? --- Lilykins, gesturing to some other house elves, who immediately took up the task of fixing us up a table with not only treacle tart (thank god) but ice cream, pie, biscuits, and loads of other sweets that I swear I didn't see at dinner tonight. Gosh, James sure does well with these house elves; I don't get service half this good when I come here. He must be a regular.

"This way, my lady," said James with a broad grin on his face, offering me his arm. I giggled (I _giggled_!) and took it.

Seriously, James must be getting special treatment, because I _swear_ I've never seen half this stuff at Hogwarts. Lucky.

An elderly-looking (alright, _deformed_-looking) house elf came up and put napkins on our laps. How formal!

"Thank you, Pubert," said James, looking like he was holding back a laugh.

Wait--- _what_? Pubert! _Pubert_! PUBERT! WHAT THE HECK KIND OF NAME IS THAT! He must be kidding. Another one of James's little jokes. I look over at the house elf, who nodded--- he must be in on this joke too--- and walked away. _Pubert_!

"Lily? Are you alright?" asks James. That's probably a logical question; I'm sure some of this inner debate I'm having is showing up on my face. But _Pubert_!

"Pubert?" I ask softly.

"Yes," says James.

"Wow," I say.

"Treacle tart?" asks James.

Ew. "Ew," I say.

James laughs. "I knew you didn't like them." He knew! He--- he _knew_! Then why the heck did he ask! He's playing tricks on me. Just like Time was earlier today. And _Pubert_. This must be international-play-tricks-on-Lily Day. Really. Just what I need. Taking a biscuit and buttering it with a bit more vigor than usual, I look back at James, who is staring at me and looking amused.

"What?" I ask defiantly through a mouth fully of biscuit.

"Nothing," he says, obviously keeping back a laugh. "It's just funny watching you have inner debates with yourself." I chuck a biscuit at him.

The rest of our feast went rather smoothly--- excluding the bit where James referred to one of the elves as this strange, exotic name that included a lot of tongue clucking--- and I must say, it's quite nice talking to James--- he's easy to talk to.

Saying goodbye to Lilykins, Pubert, and that other one with a name that I refuse to even attempt to pronounce, James and I set off down the corridor, laughing about one thing or another; I wasn't quite paying attention, it's just nice to hear James's laugh.

"You, know, Lily, you're really easy to talk to," said James.

"You too," I said. "I wish we could talk like this more often, instead of biting each other's heads off."

He stopped, and looked deep into my eyes. Those beautiful, dark, hazel eyes. "Me too," he said in a rather hoarse voice, picking up my hand. But, of course, this wonderful moment couldn't last long, and not two seconds later Mrs. Norris is meowing at our feet. Damn cat.

He looked down at her, very obviously disappointed. "I guess we'd better keep going," James said rather reluctantly.

I sighed. "I suppose." We walked all the way back in silence, though we were still holding hands.

Right outside the portrait hole, James let go of my hand and stopped, so I turned around to face him, my back several inches from the wall. He took a couple steps towards me, and did an odd sort of stumble and fell forward, pinning me against the wall.

"Tripped," he mumbled with a grin, as he lifted his hands up and put them against the wall. There was a sound coming somewhere down the corridor. We both looked, but not seeing anything, James turned back to me, looking into my eyes. Stupid entrancing hazel eyes.

"Listen, Lily," he started in a slow, husky voice. "I had a lot of fun with you tonight." Our faces were barely two inches apart. I had just opened my mouth to speak when---

"Aha! I've finally caught you! Out after hours, eh, Potter!" It was Filch. Spotting me with a look of delight on his face, he added, "_And_ with a girl! I'll get you for this one, Potter!"

James glanced back at me, then, somewhat reluctantly, unpinning me against the wall, he turned to Filch and pointed to his badge. "Not tonight, Filch. I've got as much right to be out as you do."

"And why's that?" said Filch bluntly, the smile sagging off his face.

"Because I'm bloody Head Boy!" said James. "Come on, Lily, let's get to bed."

Filch watched as we entered the portrait hole, hate and disappointment etched onto every feature of his grotesque face. James walked me over to the girl's staircase, and stopped. He was probably hoping to get back what we had going out there--- if only we had gone inside the common room!--- but just then, Remus Lupin, another one of James's friends, comes down, sees us, and mutters something about forgetting his book. Oh well, I suppose people will have to get used to me being on friendly terms with James before we start a relationship or anything.

I sighed. "I suppose we'd better get to bed," I said reluctantly.

"Alright," said James, looking disappointed. "Patrols"--- HA! ---"same time tomorrow, okay?" he added, his eyes glimmering.

"See you then!" I said happily, pecking him on the cheek, before turning and positively _sprinting_ up the stairs to the girls dormitory.

Who knew you could have so much fun patrolling.


	4. Admitting It

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! 200 hits! If only _all_ the readers would review…Haha. Well, feel free to leave any advice/ideas, and a review!**

I am _seriously_ really bad at hiding my emotions. Really. When I'm happy, it shows. When I'm mad, it shows (believe me). And right now, I'm happy.

And it shows. Honestly, I'm positively _prancing_ all over the place! Prancing! Like last night! I mean, it's okay for some things to prance. Like… bunnies. They prance. Horses prance, Bambi prances, but _I_ do not prance. Lily Evans and prance just don't go together.

But here I am, prancing. And I can't stinking stop! I tried to early, and I ended up trampling a Hufflepuff first year. Which isn't good. _And_ Andra and Eliza are noticing. Good for nothing observant friends. I need new friends.

"So, Lily, how'd _patrols_ go last night?" asked Andra, smirking, as we ate our dinner in the Great Hall. I don't like the way she put emphasis on patrols. I mean, we _were_ patrolling. Well, only for about five minutes, but still!

"Fine," I said, as indifferently as I could manage (which wasn't very good, if you didn't get the idea from my whole prancing situation).

"Just fine?" pressed Eliza. "You seem to not mind James as much this year."

You think? "Yeah, well, we'll have to get along, with all our Head duties to do together," I say. Woohoo! Ten points for Lily! I sure am good at coming up with defensive… stuff.

"You never seemed to make any effort to get along before," said Eliza, raising her eyebrow, while Andra nodded in approval.

Negative ten points for Lily. Er. "Er," I say. "Well. I suppose I could have been wrong about James."

Eliza's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into her hair. What! What's so gosh darn surprising about me admitting I was wrong! Huh! I'm not _that_ stubborn.

"Whatever, Lily," said Andra, rolling her eyes. Finally Eliza mercifully lowered her eyebrows back to their normal position. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that you liked James." She paused. "You don't, do you?"

Dang, my friends know me too well. _Note to self: Get new friends_. Well, they'll have to know sometime, but I really don't think the Great Hall would be the place to tell them. How to work myself out of this one… I suppose I could pretend to faint. Or… something to do with that bread pudding… I'm not sure what, but when you include bread pudding into a plan, it just sounds successful.

Wait! Sirius is coming over here! Darn, I love that boy.

"Lilykins!" said Sirius. I look around confusedly, expecting to see the house elf. Oh! He's talking to me.

"Yes?" I asked Sirius.

"Jamesy just wants me to remind you about your patrols tonight. Said he had a damn good time last night, what with the---"

"Yes!" I said, interrupting Sirius. Did I say I loved that boy? Scratch that. I renew my idea about the bread pudding distraction. "Well, thanks for giving me the message, Sirius. Tell James I'll see him tonight at 9:30."

"My pleasure," said Sirius with a mock bow. "Eliza, would you like to accompany me back to the dormitories?" He asked, offering his hand. Eliza laughed and took it, and with a small wave, they were gone. I turned around to find Andra staring at me intently. Gosh. I thought we'd gotten past that barrier. Guess not.

I sighed. "I suppose you don't want to go and work in the library?"

Her face broke into a smile. "Nope. Come on, Lily, let's go."

"Where?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. There's something suspicious about that smile of hers. Her smile widened, and she motioned for me to follow her. She led me up to the common room, up to the dormitories, across the room, and…

Over to her closet. Well, this isn't what I'd expected, but maybe instead of getting interrogated, I'll get a new pair of shoes! Score! Mine are getting small anyway, and Andra's feet are one size bigger than mine, so that would work out nice---

"Lily? Are you coming inside?" Called Andra from… inside her closet? _What_? I don't fit in _my_ closet.

Holy crap! This closet is _huge_! That's not fair! She must have put an engorgement charm on it… why didn't I think of that?

Andra was grinning. "Like it?" she asked.

"It's awesome!" I say, in awe. "How come you didn't tell us before?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Andra offhandedly. "It was just my place to be alone, you know. When I wanted to get away from everyone…" Her face turned serious. "Now, about you and James…" Dang. I'd forgotten why we were here. Maybe I can joke my way out of this… I could… bread pudding… Pubert! ... Okay I got nothing. I braced myself for the worse.

"So," started Andra, "_do_ you like him?"

"Well," I started hesitantly, "I think so." I didn't know I could talk that quietly. Maybe she didn't hear.

Her face broke into a smile, and she laughed. (She _laughed_!) "HA!" ('Ha'! What! What does she mean by _HA_?) "I _knew_ it. I always knew it. I always knew there was something more to what you thought of him. I knew from day one."

Did she really? That's odd. I mean, even _I_ didn't know… not until yesterday, at least. Gosh. Way to be the last one informed, Lily.

"How'd you know?" I asked. (Maybe I'll learn tips on finding out stuff like this… so, you know, next time, I'll figure it out earlier.)

She rolled her eyes. "Don't act like it wasn't obvious!"---Didn't seem obvious to me---"I mean, the way that _only he_ could get you so wound up. And he'd be the _only one_ who could get you to defend _Snivellus_. It was obvious that there was something there, and that you were just hiding it." Chyeah. Hiding it from _myself_. So _everyone_ knew! Gosh. Way to boost my self esteem, Andra. _Note to self: Still get knew unobservant, self-esteem boosting friends_.

"I---" I started blushing. "I didn't realize it until yesterday."

Andra raised her eyebrow. People sure seem to be doing that a lot likely. Maybe I have some "raise-your-eyebrow-at-me" sign on my back. I felt around my back. Nope, nothing there. Hm…

"It's true," I said, half defensively, half indignantly.

"I guess that's possible…" she pondered, more to herself than me, I think. "Maybe you were hiding too far under that act to realize… that must be it…"

Gosh, my friends are so deep.

Looking at my watch, I see that it's 9:35. Crap, I'm late! "Crap, I'm late!" I say. I am _so_ good at speaking my mind. "I trust you'll pass this onto Eliza, if she ever gets back from her date with Sirius?" Andra grinned and nodded. "Though she probably already knew," I muttered in disgust as I turned to leave the closet.

I bounded down the stairs--- not like there's anything to hide anymore--- and saw James sitting on the couch. He stood up, beaming, and said. "Good evening, Miss Evans." Wow. How corny. I smiled, nonetheless. He took my hand, and we set off out the portrait hole.

…

**A/N: Alright, not too much longer than the last one, but still I'm doing pretty good. (: Sorry that there wasn't any Lily/James interaction, but I had to make sure Lily's friends knew that she was on good terms with James before they bounded into a new relationship. Stay tuned guys! REVIEW!**


	5. So Close

**A/N: 300 hits! Amazing! And thanks for all the reviews guys… this chapter should have more action, the last chapter was just Lily explaining, so everyone knew that she didn't hate James anymore. Anyways... review!**

"So, Lily," started James as we exited through the portrait hole, "where do you want to patrol tonight?" I can just _tell_ by the way he said that that he's hoping that I'll say the inside of a broom closet or something. HA! Not today, Potter, my friend. It's time to use some of Andra's guy advice… oh wait… hers was horrible… I was going to tell her that wasn't I? I'm really not following through with my mental notes, am I? _Note to self: follow through with 'note to self"… notes._

"Oh, I'm not sure," I say casually. "Where do you want to patrol, James?" He grins. Gosh. My guy advice would be _way_ better than Andra's. I should seriously write a book. Or get a newspaper column.

"Well…" said James, with an evil grin. Uh-oh. "I was thinking we could go through some of the secret corridors--- you know, the ones hidden behind tapestries and walls--- and see if there's anyone in there." Why would anyone be in _there_? Who even knows about those, anyway? I thought they were just a myth… He's planning something, I know it. Hmm. I doubt it'll be anything bad, he wouldn't want me back on his bad side.

I eye him suspiciously. "All right," I say finally. "Lead the way." Beaming, James drags me down the hall, pulls back a tapestry of what looks like a goblin crusade, and leads me up to… a wall.

"Ladies first, Lily," says James, gesturing towards the wall.

You have _got_ to be kidding me. I am not walking into a wall! "Wha--- no!" I say.

"Come on, Lily, just go at a run and it'll be fine!" Okay. Maybe James is insane. It could be the lack of sleep, which _does_ addle with your brain. This school never considered our mental health when they set these early hours, I've said it once, and I'll say it again! But back to the point. I am _not_ running into a wall. I like my face this way, thank you very much.

James is observing me. He crosses his arms, saying, "Come on, Lily. Would I _really_ do something to hurt you?" Hmm… the word "yes" comes to mind. It's not like you haven't before… but I guess, that was the old James, and this is the new James. So no, I don't think he'd do anything to hurt me… well, I hope he wouldn't.

"Alright. But do I _have_ to run?"

James smiles. "Well, no, you don't _have_ to." He pauses. "Here, take my hand"--- he offers me his arm---"and we can go together." I take his arm. We back up until our backs are up against the other edge of the corridor. "Ready?" he says. I nod. "Go!" We sprint towards the wall--- four feet to go--- three, I'm going to hit it for sure!--- two, good god, I'll miss my face!--- one, AH POTTER HOW COULD I LET YOU RAKE ME INTO THIS, YOU'RE SO--- oh.

We made it. We're in this superbly furnished room, with red couches, and a high ceiling with the most _beautiful_ golden chandelier I have ever seen. This is… amazing. God, James is such a liar. This is not a _passageway_.

James was watching me. "You like it?" he grins.

"It's--- wonderful," I say quietly. "How did you ever come across this?"

"Oh, me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter know this castle back to front," he says, waving his hand casually. "Would you like a drink, Lily?" I notice a cart with drinks and desserts on it--- this place has _everything_. Gosh, I wish _I_ knew the castle back to front. I only learned where Dumbledore's office was the other day. Pitiful, I know.

James plopped down onto a couch with two mugs of hot chocolate. "Here," he said, waving one at me. I plopped down right next to him (I mean, his was more of just a sat down, but mine was a true _plop_. HA! Beat that, Potter).

"Mmm," I say, "this hot chocolate is delicious!"

James grins. He seems to be doing that a lot lately. "So, Lily," he said, leaning back. "I'm really enjoying these patrols with you."

"I really like them too," I mumble. Why did I have to go red now? _Why_? James smiles even wider (it that's possible) and puts his mug down on a coffee table that I swear wasn't there five seconds ago. I follow suit (just making sure it isn't a mirage or something (it's not by the way (unless I'm miraging that it's not a mirage (wow I really need to stop these quadruple parenthesis's, they're going a little overboard, I must say)))).

James continues smiling, and puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in closer. "I'm glad," he whispered. And here we were again, our faces mere inches apart. _Nothing_ could go wrong this time. James leaned in, and paused, his mouth now about a centimeter from mine. What the heck is this about! I'm about to lean in to close the gap when--- the impossible happens.

A snogging Sirius and Eliza burst into the room, making a big commotion and apparently not paying much attention to what they were doing. James and I instinctively look up. "Oy!" yells James. "Sirius, what are you _doing_ here? I told you I might be coming here tonight!" Sirius was obviously too into his activity to notice that someone was talking to him, so James went up and punched him hard on the back.

Sirius reluctantly pulled away. "What is it?" he asked grumpily.

James looked too appalled for words. "Told you! Coming here! Me and Lily! Tonight"

Understanding dawned on Sirius's fate. "Ohh," he said sheepishly. "Right. Well, you guys don't seem to be too close to anything_ serious_"--- he laughed at his pun ---"so I think Eliza and I will stay here, and you too can go out into the corridor to continue your"--- he coughed ---"_duties_." Expecting him to be angry and protest against this, I looked up at James. Surprisingly, he had turned faintly pink. I wonder what this is about?

"Alright," agreed James. "Lily? Let's let these two get back to... whatever they were doing."

"Okay," I said. Eliza beamed at me, and James and I turned to go. "I wonder what that was about?" I asked as we exited, hoping to get answers as to why James had _blushed_. Yes, James Potter. Blushed.

"Er, I don't know." He is _such_ a bad liar. You would think he'd be skilled at that from all his pranks, but nope, he's not. Not around me, at least. Maybe I give off some strange aura that makes people bad liars. Hey, it's a possibility. 

James checked his watch. "It's getting late," he said. "I guess we should just… head back," he said half half-heartedly and half disgustedly, as if the idea of returning to the dormitories was appalling.

"All right," I said, and he looked surprised. HA! I bet this is just torturing him, missing two opportunities in a row to snog someone he's liked for years. It's torturing me, too, mind, but I'd like to think I have more self-control.

He stopped outside the portrait hole expectantly. Mwahaha. I'm evil. Pretending not to notice, I gave the password to the Fat Lady, and stared back at James, who was standing there looking shocked. Gosh, you come close to kissing a guy _twice_ and he's so expectant. Jeez. "Coming?" I ask, holding back a laugh. That look on his face is priceless.

"I guess," he grunted. He walked me over to the girl's staircase.

"Tomorrow at 9:30, then," I said cheerfully. He gave a strange sort of grunt. God, he's acting like he missed out on some big treat! I'm not that great of a kisser… I bet he'll be disappointed when our lips finally meet (which, between Filch, Sirius, and Eliza, is highly unlikely). I gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, and turned to walk up the stairs.

Maybe tomorrow.

…

**A/N: Well there you go! I got so mad when Sirius and Eliza came in right at that moment, and then I remembered that I was the one that made them do that, ha. Sorry I've been putting off the "moment" for so long, I'm just planning some really special or… original… way to have it happen. Still in the planning stage, though, but I'm pretty sure it'll be next chapter.**

I heard that we weren't supposed to talk back to our reviewers anymore? But they don't really seem to be enforcing that so…

aurora-sakura--- Yeah, it usually is the guy that does that to the girl, _but_… I couldn't think of anything else. Haha. I wanted her to have liked James for a long time, so these feelings weren't coming completely out of the blue.  
**Eliniel**--- Thanks for telling me that the anonymous reviewers couldn't--- review. Haha. I didn't even know that I had set it like that; I'm not much of a computer whiz if you couldn't tell…

**Thanks to all the reviewers! Keep… reviewing!**


	6. Finally

**A/N: All right, this chapter is a little different. I tried something new… I'm not really sure about it, but you'll have to tell me what you think. Review!**

That priceless look of disappointment on James's face last night? I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of it today.

It's only lunchtime, and we've already been interrupted when we were _just _about to kiss. You see, we were in partnered in divinitation, and when James's tea leaves said that he was going to find the love of his life soon… well, you get the idea. So it was _finally_ about to happen, when that complete _fraud_, Professor Seesan, screams that she's had a vision--- and that I'm going to encounter a giant marshmallow.

…

**_Flashback_**

_**In divinitation class that morning**_

"All right, class, lets get to work," says Professor Seesan, her glasses perched precariously upon her nose. "No, no, Potter, you're not working with Black today, I'm afraid."

Looking around the classroom, she spots Lily. "Ms. Evans, you can partner with Potter. Black, Fawcett doesn't have a partner, so you can join up with him." James and Sirius moved to their respective partners, James grinning widely at Lily. "Okay, class, drink your tea and begin to interpret each others futures!" Professor Seesan finished mystically.

"Fancy that," started James. He looked like he couldn't be more pleased landing Lily as a partner. "You're a might sight prettier than Sirius, I have to say." He grinned.

Lily turned red, and made a small tutting noise, though she herself looked pleased with the partnering. "Come on, James, I suppose we should get to work, before Seesan comes over and yells at us for not taking her Inner Eye seriously, or some rubbish like that."

"True," sighed James.

They traded cups, and both opened their copies of their divinitation book. "Well," says James, "it says that your diamond shaped thingy means that… hold on… 'Marshmallows will await you in your future.'" He sniggered. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well, James, it appears that your_ crescent moon shape means… 'Your true love will soon find you.'" Lily snorted, looking as though she thought the prediction was ridiculous. James, however, seemed to be taking the statement rather seriously, while staring intently at Lily._

"I think she already has," whispered James huskily. Lily stopped laughing, and they stared deep into each others eyes. Lily and James simultaneously leaned in closer to each other. They were millimeters away from each other when a shriek echoed across the room.

"My dear!" screeched Professor Seesan, pointing at Lily.

Lily and James pulled back immediately from each other immediately.

"I--- I have had a vision! You--- you are going to--- to encounter a--- a--- giant marshmallow_, my dear!" Laughter echoed across the previously dead-silent room._

**End of flashback**  
…

It was quite a… fiasco, I must say.

"Lily!" says Eliza. "Lily, we've got to get to charms!"

"All right," I say. Boy, I love charms. It's the one thing that actually comes easily to me, like second-nature, you know? Unlike transfiguration, where I'm constantly turning butterflies into palm trees instead of bumblebees. Though I don't see why you'd want to turn something into a _bumblebee_, I mean, they sting, don't they? Besides, some people are allergic to them! Maybe _I'm _allergic to them. I'll have to mention that to Professor McGonagall, and maybe she'll reconsider giving me a "D" on that assignment. Hmm…

Arriving in charms, I take my newly assigned seat at one of the tables, which happens to be next to James's. Hmm… too much of a coincidence. I always knew James had something on old Flitwick…

"Hey," says James, sliding into the seat next to me.

"Hi," I respond.

"Class, class, settle down!" squeaks little Professor Flitwick. "Today we will be performing Speed-Growth Charms! The spell is _Speegrowtheo_ A/N: No, I'm not very creative, ha., and say it with a nice long swish! I want you to partner with the person next to you"--- James and I partnered two classes in a row? He must have something on Seesan, as well, I hadn't thought about that--- "and Longbottom, would you mind passing out these ferns for the class to practice on?"

The class broke out into chatter as Longbottom passed out the ferns. I swear he doesn't like me, some incident with offending his girlfriend, Alice, back in sixth year. Ah well. I'm probably just being paranoid.

"Hi, Frank," I say to him as he reaches our table. He grunts (maybe it could be interpreted as a _friendly_ grunt?) and gives us a dead looking fern. Okay, it probably wasn't a friendly grunt. He hates me. On his way back up to Flitwick, he accidentally bumps his elbow into my _head (_causing James to scowl heavily at him). I rest my case.

"Let's get started, okay, James?" I say. Gee, James's scowls look intimidating. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of _those_. And to think I caused that one! I feel special. 

"James?" I repeat. He looks up.

"Right. Well, I'm not much of a charms wiz, so would you like to go first?" he asks. 'Not much of a charm wiz'! Yeah _right_. He's a natural if I ever saw one (though not of course as good as me).

I make a tutting noise. More of a 'tuh,' but I think 'tutting' is a nice way to describe it. "All right," I say. "_Speegrowtheo_!" I swish my wand. The rotting fern grows and grows and grows and grows… until it resembles one of the leaves on the palm tree that I transfigured. It's still brown, though. Blegh. Darn you, Longbottom. Oh damn, it's still growing. Oh my god! It's _still _growing! OH MY GOD! THIS IS _HUGE_!

"_Reducto_!" shouts Flitwick, his wand pointing at the giant fern (I must have put a little too much oomph into that spell; I guess I was trying to impress James…?). The blast of Flitwick's spell knocks me and James backwards, and onto the floor. OW! That hurt.

Raising my head slightly, I look around. Oh, it looks like one of the other students got a nasty gash on his arm… bloody hell, it's Longbottom. Well, I suppose this won't cause him to like me more. Look what you've done, James, if only you didn't have blackmail on Flitwick, I wouldn't have had to sit next to you, making me not try to impress you, not causing a fern leaf to turn destructive, not making Flitwick cast that reducting spell, and, therefore, not making Longbottom give me that horrible look that he is currently casting in my direction. God, James, you're such a nuisance. A cute nuisance, but a nuisance none the less.

"Oh bother," says Flitwick, spotting Longbottom (who, thank god, finally looks away). "I guess I'll be taking you down to the hospital wing." He looks around at the class. "Very well, this is it for today. You may all go now, and have an early dinner."

Score! Maybe my shoddy charms work isn't all that bad. Pity about Longbottom, though. One by one, the class is filing out of the room, leaving James and I alone. I turn to look at James, who looks, plainly, rather bored. Hmm. Standing up, I gracefully trip on one of our overturned chairs, and landing, with an odd sort of twist, right on top of James.

"Oomph!" he gasps as I crush him. I'm not light, you know, I feel sorry for him. Our faces our barely inches apart… but he's turning red; my weight must be killing him.

"Sorry!" I say. I start to get up, but James pulls me back against him, and, rolling us over (that sounds so weird), he's now on top of me. (Though he's holding himself up so he doesn't utterly crush me, how thoughtful!) Need I say it; our faces are, indeed, inches apart. Leaning in, we're about to _finally_ press our lips together (I can feel both of our hearts pounding in anticipation) when---

"Oy! James! Are you coming to---" Sirius stops mid-sentence, and breaks into a grin.

He opens his mouth once more, but James, muttering, "Not _again_," in a barely audible whisper, points his wand at the door, and casts a spell, slamming it shut on Sirius's gleeful face.

James throws his wand aside. He stares at me for a second (his hazel eyes really are marvelous) and then completely _throws_ his face at mine (though very gently so), apparently keen on kissing me before another interruption. I run my hands threw his hair, kissing him back.

The other girls were right, you know.

He is a good kisser.

**A/N: Ta-da! The moment you've all been waiting for. Originally, I was planning on having all these interruptions and saving 'the moment' for the next chapter, but then I realized that you guys would probably kill me for putting it off for so long (and I'd probably hate myself). **

Oh, and Vicki, you were right about that whole "expectations" thing, and I probably shouldn't have put that, but, yeah, oh well. You probably won't like the whole slamming the door on Sirius thing, but I'd written that already when you posted, and I can't really think of anything else…

I'm not sure about that whole flashback thing, and it wasn't in first person, so, yeah, I don't know… it was just sort of an inspiration, but I don't think I'll do it again. Feel free to leave feedback on it!

Someone mentioned something about keeping out the Americanisms… that's a good point, and I've been trying harder to edit out the things that probably wouldn't be said in England. Let me know if you guys spot any, though!

Thanks for all the reviews guys! Tell me what you think of it this chapter, please! Anyways… Leave a review!


	7. Detention

And that's pretty much how Professor Mortenson (Defense Against the Dark Arts) finds James and me five minutes later.

Yes, we are still on the floor.

No, we do not bother looking up when old Mortenson comes in. (I swear I thought he was Sirius!)

And no, I don't think he's going to offer us some bread pudding and let us skip away.

"Ahem," says Mortenson l gruffly. Oh come on, it's not like we did something terrible, I'm _sure_ this has happened before…

Okay. Let's review what just occurred. I turned a dead fern into a colossal monster, indirectly injured another student, and started snogging another student on a teachers' classroom floor.

Like I said, I'm sure this has happened before.

"Ahem." Oh. Right. I should probably say something. Or James could. Gosh, why isn't he? What a slacker. I look over at him, and he's just sitting on the floor, propped up on his shoulders, and staring at Mortenson in a mildly interested kind of way. Wow. All right.

"Hi," I say in a meek voice. The full impact of Mortenson's stern expression is finally sinking in. Damn.

I've never really gotten in trouble before. Okay, there was that one time when I insulted a Hufflepuff--- she was so _stupid_--- and that other time where I tripped that completely _foul_ Slitherin who would not stop pestering me, but I've never been caught doing something super-embarrassing like this. On a teacher's classroom floor. Damn.

"So," says Professor Mortenson, and now he's got this twisted smile on his face. Okay, come on, how did he even find us in here? It's not his classroom, even! He must have walked by and pressed his nose to the window and saw us. How stalker-like.

"So," he says (yet again). 

I look at James, and I can just _tell_ he's dying to say 'so what'.

"Well," says Mortenson.

Well, I guess that's better than 'so,' but god, just get on with it. 

"I rather think you two deserve detention."

Nooo! I was just kidding! I liked 'so' and 'well' better! God, kissing James is bad luck. I mean, I admit, for a while I wanted to, but now I'm all bruised from falling all over the place, I've made a new enemy (Frank (okay maybe not new _exactly_)), _and_ I've got detention!

"What!" says James, looking appalled.

Sometimes I just don't understand him. I mean, we were just caught snogging on the floor of a teachers' classroom. Doesn't that just scream detention to you?

"Yes, Potter, detention," smirks Mortenson. "I want you at the girl's toilets tonight, at 9:00. You'll be cleaning them." He's smirking more than ever. "_Without_ magic," he adds.

Greaaaat. Just lovely.

I look at James, who stares at Mortenson dully for a couple of seconds, and then his face lights up. I can't see why… maybe he has some strange fascination with girls' toilets or something.

"I'm sorry," says James with a smirk, "but I'm afraid that we won't be able to make it to detention tonight."

"Why not?" ask Mortenson and me together. Great minds think alike! Wait--- nooo! Kidding!

"Because," starts James, "as Head Boy and Girl, it is our _duty_ to patrol. Nightly. And I'm afraid that your detention would interfere with our responsibilities."

Mortenson looks dumbfounded. HA! HA! HA! HA, HA, HA, HA!

Whoops. It seems one of those "HA!"'s has escaped me. Don't look at me like that! I'm not insane! Er.

I jump up from the floor. "Must be going!" I say as I pull James up and we go sprinting out the door. I'd have to say that we were pretty slick back there.

Once a good distance away from Mortenson, James stop, and I, in turn, stop, not because I'm obsessed in staying with him or anything, but because we're still holding hands, and it would be the least painful to stop along with him. And… yeah.

I turn around to look at James, and he's… wiping tears out of his eyes? Oh. He was laughing. Ha. I knew that. I didn't know that he was one of those cry-laughers, though. I think it would stink to be one of those, I mean really, I laugh a lot, so I'd probably look like I cried all the time or something, and that's… not good.

I wish he would stop looking at me. I really do. I mean, it's not that I don't like him or anything (because I (and everyone else, according to Andra (I still can't get over that)) have already figured out that I do), but really, those eyes should have a warning label, their _that_ entrancing. I've always liked hazel eyes, most girls prefer green or blue or something like that, but mine are too green, so more green would just be…

Stop staring at me goddamnit! This isn't even the right type of moment to kiss me! I mean, you kiss someone if, say, they wake up from a coma, if they win something, if they create a monstrous fern, or, I don't know, there are a lot of situations where you would snog someone senseless, but after you avoid detention? Nuh-uh. I really should write that dating advice book, because face it, I'm good.

He just put his hands around my waist.

He's still staring at me. Ah well, maybe this isn't such a bad time…

Just then Sirius and Eliza come walking down the corridor, hand in hand, probably coming back from dinner.

I forgot; it's pretty much impossible for James and me to kiss each other without having someone run into us. Seriously, between our friends and teachers and everything, we'll probably have a snog every month, if we're lucky. I'm so stupid. Next time he wants to kiss me, I'll just go for it while I have the chance.

"How come you guys never came down to dinner?" asks Eliza.

Sirius, grinning evilly, opens his mouth, but James interrupts him.

"Just---" James mutters something incoherently, while Eliza looks confused. "Come on, Lily, let's get down to dinner," he says, taking my hand.

"See you guys later!" I say over my shoulder, as James and I make for the Great Hall.

…

Heads turn as James and I walk, hand in hand, into the Great Hall. I thought they all knew that we liked each other? What a little liar Andra is. Oh well. You'd think they'd have something more interesting to talk about, that their pitiful lives would have something more colorful in them that would overshadow the fact that the two people most well-known to hate each other had gotten together.

But apparently not.

I've never heard them so quiet. And they've never stared at me so much. God, I feel like some sort of freak show. At least James is with me.

Casting a sneaky side-long glance over at James, I see that he's smiling. Yeah, well, I guess he never has had anything against getting attention, has he?

I look up at the staff table and see Mortenson eyeing us with a mixture of loathing and suspicion, like we're bound to charge up to the staff table and pounce on him any second.

As we sit down at the Gryffindor table, the freakish quiet is immediately replaced by loud, excited chatter. Three guesses what they're talking about.

Two girls down the table have their heads buried in a newspaper. Hey, what happened to talking about me? I'm way more interesting than some stupid newspaper!

"… I doubt they'll come anywhere near Hogwarts…"

I wonder what that means? Before I could make a guess, James speaks up.

"Hey, Susan, would you mind letting me read that paper when you're done?" He flashes the girl a dazzling smile.

Blushing, Susan hands him the paper, with a squeaked, "here." What a little suck up! That smile wasn't _that_ dazzling.

Staring at the paper with a concerned look on his face, James nudges me, and points to the headline on _The Evening Prophet_.

Oh my---

…

**A/N: I know, I love those cliffhangers. I was going to leave it at an earlier point, but it wasn't enough cliffhanger-y, and I was on a roll, so hey, why not. Sorry for the longer wait for this chapter; school, you know… Thanks to all the reviewers…**

**Eliniel****--- I think I finally got the tense thing down… maybe… hopefully… hah well I tried. It's funny how I can't seem to master simple things like that, but hey… thanks for letting me know!**

Leave a review!


	8. Bad News

…

It can't--- no.

This _can't_ be possible.

The words _Terror at the Ministry_ stare up at me from the newspaper.

_The quiet, calm atmosphere of the Ministry of Magic was interrupted this afternoon when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and several followers entered the Ministry, spreading terror throughout the building. You-Know-Who, accompanied by around 15 followers (known as "Death Eaters") apparated into the ground floor, and promptly started cursing all officials in sight. However, You-Know-Who was soon outnumbered by Ministry workers, and after injuring several workers and causing slight damage to the building, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fled. Several Ministry workers are currently at St. Mungo's Hospital, though are said to be in fine condition._

The cause of the attack is unknown. All that can be guessed is that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked the Ministry workers in attempt to "eliminate strong opposers," says Junior Minister Cornelius Fudge. "We hope that further investigations will help to reveal the cause of this tragedy."

Though many would disagree, several say that there is great gain from this attack; we now know that You-Know-Who has gathered at least 15 followers, and is out on the loose. Names of these Death Eaters were not obtainable by press time, but it is expected that several will be identified by tomorrow's edition.

For now, anyone seeing something suspicious is urged to call the Ministry. Every one should be on guard for these dangerous wizards.

Oh my gawd.

I can't believe this is happening--- I mean, the _Ministry_? The Ministry is the safest place around, besides Hogwarts! How could this happen!

But Susan's right, they wouldn't dare come anywhere near Hogwarts; we've got Dumbledore on our side. _Dumbledore_.

I look up at the staff table, and see all the teachers hurriedly reading their copies of the _Evening Prophet_, and exchanging whispers.

This is _not_ good.

I look over at James, and he's still staring at the paper. I guess he can't believe it either.

And looking around, it strikes me how ironic it is that everyone is babbling on about me and James; they don't even know about the Ministry break-in, let along care.

James has finally looked up, and now he's staring disgustedly across the room at our classmates; I guess he's disgusted with them, too.

"C'mon," he says, standing up. "Let's go."

Grabbing my hand, he pulls me (rather roughly) to the door. Just as we're about to leave, I notice a small tapping on my shoulder, and turn to see what it is.

Bumping into my shoulder is a letter. Picking it up, I notice that it's addressed to James and me. Hmm… I wonder who sent it? Looking up at the staff table, I see Dumbledore raising his glass and looking directly at us. Aha. I should have guessed.

"Let's not open it here," says James.

"Alright," I say. "Where, then?"

"C'mon," he repeats.

Taking my hand once again, he leads me up several staircases, down many halls, and several minutes later, we're in the Astronomy Tower. He could have just _told_ me, it's not like the Astronomy Tower's anything special, I've been here tons of times.

James walks over to the window, staring at the beautiful sunset intently.

"I was going to take you here anyway," James starts slowly, "but after reading the newspaper, it seems like an even better idea. A good place to—talk."

Waving his wand, he conjures a couch. Spiffy. Pretty cool couch, if I do say so myself. Blue's really not my favorite, though. I prefer red, or orange.

James sits down, and gestures for me to do the same.

"Let's open the letter," he says.

"Okay," I say, handing it to him.

He opens it, and I lean in to read:

_Dear Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter,_

I take it you have discovered the unpleasant news in tonight's issue of the Evening Prophet_. Assuming so, I think you will find it unsurprising that I wish you to take patrols very seriously from now on. There is no evidence to say that Voldemort will ever come to the school, but it is best to take precaution. Other teachers will now be patrolling as well, but I still wish you to go throughout the entire castle as usual, being sure to check any secret passageways you may be aware of as well. I would also recommend not leaving each other's side, as traveling in numbers is always wise._

Questions and comments are welcome.

Yours,  
Professor Albus Dumbledore

"Nothing we couldn't have assumed already," I say truthfully. I mean, it's not like I was going to go wandering around the castle at midnight by myself.

"Yeah," agrees James, looking more troubled than ever. "Yeah, I guess…"

"What is it, James?" I say, confused. What could possible be bothering him more than the break-in that we read of earlier? Maybe it's all just sinking in, how much that one break-in is going to change everything.

"Nothing," he says. HA! Nothing my _foot_.

"James, you know you can tell me anything," I say, pressing for information. I hate secrets like this. Tell me now!

"Well…" he starts. "It's just…" he trails off.

"Just what?"

"The map."

…

"James makes no sense whatsoever," I say to Andra, after coming back from the Astronomy Tower with James to talk to Andra about the break-in before patrols. "I mean, really, if he's going to get that far into telling me, he can't just _stop_."

"I'm sure he'd tell you if it was really important," says Andra soothingly.

"But why would he be so upset if it _wasn't_ important?"

"I don't know… let's just get some homework done; you can ask him during patrols."

And my nosy side comes out… I'm really not one of those people that says "it's your business." If it's your business, it's mine; I'm _that _nosy. It's pitiful, really. But I _have_ to know! Fortunately, after years of wheedling information out of people, I'm pretty confident in my abilities.

Sighing, I set to work on my Transfiguration essay, thinking 9:30 couldn't come soon enough.

…

**A/N: A new plot line! I had to think of something; the story wasn't very… I can't think of the right word… plotful? That's not it, but yeah it didn't have enough… depth… to it. Let me know what you thought of the newspaper segment, and Dumbledore's letter!**

Review!


	9. Nosing

Time has gone back to playing jokes on me.

Remember a couple days ago, before my first patrol with James? Remember that? Well, time was moving pretty darn slow then, but that is _nothing_ compared to how slow it's moving now.

I swear the clock has said 9:10 for at least ten minutes… really.

I gave up on my transfiguration essay ages ago.

And as much as the Ministry break in is bothering me, I can't stop think about whatever it is James wouldn't tell me, meaning my thoughts are rather limited because I don't know what it is.

Its still 9:10. Darn time. 

"Lily, stop watching the clock," says Andra, rolling her eyes at me.

Oh come on. It's not my fault _she_ isn't nosy. She's just an abnormal _freak_ and expects me to be, too.

WELL I'M GOING TO BE NOSY AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!

Sending Andra a strange sort of grimace/glare and letting out a rather weird noise, I fling my transfiguration book onto the floor, pull open the door, and sprint down to the common room.

Where is James! I guess it's only 9:13, but _gawd_ I wish he was early. I guess he isn't suffering from lack of knowledge, so maybe it's understandable that he's not early.

I guess.

All right, I have to calm down. I can't act to eager, or he'll be suspicious and want to tell me less. I have to slowly extract the information out of him… yeah.

Wow. I've just realized that I've been having this entire inner debate (complete with hand motions) in front of the entire common room… I'm sitting down now.

Flinging myself at an empty chair, I cross my arms and try to be calm. It's not like this is that big of a deal; it's just a stupid secret. It's not even a secret; really, it's just something James hasn't gotten around to telling me yet.

I NEED TO KNOW!

I'm so immature. I hate myself. I wish I was all "it's none of my business" like _Andra_. _Andra_ can control herself. Heck, a five year-old could control themselves in this situation, I just stink.

9:18.

The common room is slowly emptying. Maybe their afraid of the insane hand-motioning Head Girl (aka me).

Now I'm alone. That all happened really fast--- okay it's kind of scary being down here alone, especially after the whole Ministry thing. I mean, they _wouldn't_ come to Hogwarts (would they?), but still, I don't like being alone.

9:21.

I think I'm going to go wait with Andra until 9:30… I'm anxious to go back into that closet thing of hers, it's pretty darn cool.

Getting up from my chair, I've just entered the stairs when I hear some voices. Maybe it's James?

"--- you don't _have_ to tell anyone, James." I think that was Sirius.

"Yeah, but I feel kind of obligated, you know? It might really be useful?" says James, sounding serious.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to eavesdrop. I mean, I'd find out anyway, right? Positioning myself in the shadows so they can't see me, I listen.

Sirius sighs. "I guess. I probably don't feel the same obligation, considering I'm not _Head Boy_" ---he sniggers--- "you know."

"Yeah," says James heavily. "I just--- I don't know, it seems like the right thing to do, but--- we worked so hard on it, and I'd feel bad letting you guys down."

"'S alright," says Sirius, somewhat reluctantly. "I mean, if it could end up saving someone, it'd be worth it, wouldn't it?"

"I guess."

Wow. I have _no_ idea what they're talking about. Maybe I'm not listening hard enough.

"Well," says James, "I think I'll just keep it a secret unless something happens that would cause us to need it. I mean, if they don't come here, then what's the point?"

"That sounds good to me," says Sirius, sounding a bit relieved.

… I'm obviously still not listening hard enough… what are they talking about?

James gives a small laugh. "You should have seen Lily when I wasn't telling her about the map--- the look on her face was _priceless_."

What!

"I'll bet!" chuckles Sirius. "Eliza says she's pretty nosy; she was surprised it took her so long to find out about--- you know--- me and Eliza."

WHAT! I am _not_ nosy! Okay, ignoring the fact that I'm spying on someone's private conversation, when have _I _ever showed signs of nosiness! Never, that's when! Eliza APPALLS me.

"Oh yeah," says James, "how're things with you and Eliza?"

Yes! Yes, new topic, I like that. No more "let's-talk-about-how-nosy-Lily-is-behind-her-back" conversations… that's a plus.

"Uhm, I don't know," says Sirius uncomfortably. "Things're going smoothly, I guess… how about you and Lily?"

"Never better," says James.

Well, how could they be any worse, considering today's the first day we've gone out? Gosh. Maybe he's including the past few years in that statement… yep, things sure are a lot better now then they were then.

"Speaking of Lily, it's 9:35, and she's still not down for patrols yet."

Damn.

"I would have though she'd be dying to find out about the map."

No I wouldn't! I mean--- I'm not!

I turn and walk casually down the stairs.

"Sorry I'm late," I say. "I--- er--- got really into my Transfiguration essay." I doubt they bought that. Me, into transfiguration? Naw. Charms, maybe, but darn Flitwick didn't give us any homework… look at me, complaining over lack of homework… this is sad.

James smiles. "All right." Standing up, he takes my hand (coincidentally, my stomach seems to fill with butterflies just then, too! Weird.), says goodbye to Sirius, and leads me out the portrait whole.

"So," I say (cleverly, I might add, keeping the conversation off the thing that he thought I would be conversing about… yeah), "where do you think we should patrol tonight?"

"I was thinking about swinging down by the dungeons," he says seriously. "We haven't made it down there in our patrols yet, have we?"

"Well… no," I say. We really haven't gone _anywhere_ though. Besides the kitchens and that one secret passageway room… hah, aren't we fantastic examples as Head Boy and Girl?

On our way to the dungeons, we see several teachers walking quickly about, obviously patrolling themselves. Dumbledore wasn't lying--- they really are taking a step up on the security around here. Which is nice, because now I can feel more safe… not that I was ever nervous or anything, because that's not something that… I would… be.

I've never really liked the dungeons. Their really creepy, and dark, and… creepy. I mean, sure, potions are in the dungeons and I'm pretty good at that, and the fact that I have Professor Slughorn wrapped around my finger doesn't hurt, either, but their creepy! I'm creeped out! For no reason! I feel pitiful…

Wait! What was that! There was a whooshing noise over there… ah!

"James?" I ask in a rather nervous voice. (I think this situation is fully deserving of my nervousness, by the way!)

James tightens his grip on my hands, and looks all around. Turning to me, he says quietly, "Listen, Lily, I don't know what's happening over here… but I just want you to know, I'd never let anyone hurt you."

We're kind of backed up against the wall, _not_ the place I want to be if there's some invisible whooshing noise around, but he's staring at me with those stupid hazel eyes again.

"I know that, James," I whisper. 

James slides his arms around my waist, and leans in slowly.

And when I'm standing here, kissing James, I really do believe that nothing could possibly hurt me when I'm with him.

…

**A/N: Okay, I have a question for you guys… how long do you want this story to go? I'm not exactly sure how I'd end it, but I've got a new story idea in the works and I'd like to finish this one before I start it. So let me know how long you want this to last, I'm not good at ending things, and I'm pretty sure if I didn't have anyone's opinion that I'd continue writing until there were about 3 thousand chapters, but I need input, so REVIEW!**


	10. NOT Nosing

I can't find him.

I've looked everywhere!

_Everywhere_.

Me and Eliza looked EVERYWHERE (!) for James and Sirius. _Everywhere_. You see, James didn't show up for patrols last night. And apparently Sirius didn't show up for his and Eliza's nightly… adventure… in the Astronomy Tower. Yes, that is a rather disturbing image, but I decided to ignore it and freak out with Eliza for a couple hours instead.

Which, by the way, didn't help much.

Not that I really expected it to or anything, but there was a small sliver of hope inside of me that thought that there was a remote possibility that they might just appear out of thin air, and them, Eliza, and time, would say "got you, Lily!" and I'd find out that it was actually like 7:30 or something. And. It sounds really stupid now… but it made sense last night.

Needless to say, that wasn't what happened.

So, Eliza and I spent today combing the castle for signs of James or Sirius (or any of the Marauders, really, we can't find Remus or Peter either). We looked in the Astronomy Tower, the kitchens, the library (we were getting desperate), the boy's dormitories---

Wait. We didn't search the boy's dormitories. But that's a great idea! Thank you, uninformed mind!

Pulling back the hangings around my bed, I yell, "Eliza!"

"What?" she says moodily, pulling back _her_ hangings.

"Boy's dormitories!"

Eliza stares at me for a second, and then says, "What?"

She's really slow, that one. I mean, come on! What pops into _your_ mind when you hear the phrase "boy's dormitories" and you've been searching for two boys, and you haven't looked in the boy's dormitories yet! "Let's look there!" would be _my_ general reaction.

"Boy's. Dormitories. Sirius. James. Come on!" I say, flinging myself off of the bed and grabbing Eliza.

"Urgh," she grumbles as I pull her down the stairs.

I'm not feeling very "urgh" ish at the moment. In fact, having these sudden brilliant ideas puts me in a really good mood! I wish I had them more often… actually, I pretty much never do.

Wait. I'm insulting myself. See what lack of James does to me?

We stop once we reach the foot of the staircase to the boy's dormitories. I've never been up there before, but I've heard that girls are allowed.

"Now what?" I ask Eliza. She's had more boyfriends; I bet she's done this before… wait! Disturbing image!

La, la, la, la, la, la!

"I don't know. I've never been up to the boy's dormitories before."

Useless friend.

Looking around at the empty common room, I decide that even if the staircase does go all wacko on us, it won't really matter, seeing as no one is here. I point this out to Eliza.

"It'll still hurt," she says bluntly.

"True," I agree. "Fine, I'll go first."

Grimacing, I reluctantly stretch my leg out and tap my foot onto the bottom stair. Nothing happens… Eliza's staring at me like I'm insane, though. I suppose that doesn't really count. Increasing my grimace, I perch one foot on the edge of the stair, and… nothing happens!

Grabbing Eliza, I sprint up the stairs, reading the signs above the doors as I go.

Gawd, I never knew James's room was so far up the tower… I bet that's how he gets his muscle… I wish I had muscle…

Panting, Eliza and I finally reach the seventh year dormitory door (which happens to be the _last_ door, at the _top _of the tower, by the way).

Okay. Uhm. Now what?

"You can go first," I say, giving Eliza a little shove towards the closed door. Hey, it's only fair. I went first last time!

"No," she says.

I stare. "Yes."

"No."

"I went last time."

"It was your idea."

True. Uhm… pointing my wand at the door, I make the door fly open and then shove Eliza inside. HA! Boy, am I slick or what?

But that probably would have worked out better if Eliza hadn't screamed as I shoved her inside. Yes, that did make matters a little more difficult. But oh well.

Stepping inside after Eliza, I look around at the messiest room I've ever seen. I mean, our dorm gets pretty messy after a month or so, but its worst state is _nothing_ compared to this. And it's only been, like, a week since school started! Sad, sad, sad. I must speak to James about his organizational skills.

Looking around, I see that three of the five beds are full of big (and apparently sleeping) lumps, which I suppose must be James, Sirius, and Remus. Or James, Peter, and Sirius. Or James, Peter, and Remus. Or Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Or---

Apparently one of the lumps has awoken. Wow, that lump looks particularly unpleasant when it's just woken up.

"What are _you_ guys doing in here?" Oh. It's James. Now that I think on it, that just-woken-up look is really hot on James.

But wait! I found James! But why didn't he come to patrols last night! A mixture of happiness, anger, and confusion is rushing through me as Eliza jams her elbow into my stomach. Ouch. Oh right. I should probably say something… the other two lumps have arisen, too. It looks like… Sirius and Peter! My first guess was right! I sure am good. Eliza stabs me with her elbow again. Ouch. Oh right.

"Uhm," I say. "We were… looking for you." The purpose of this expedition sinks in again… where was James last night!

James goes from looking suspicious to somewhat sheepish. Looking around at Sirius and Peter, I see them wearing rather guilty looks themselves.

"Well," says James. "I was… we were… well…"

SPIT IT OUT, BOY!

Cowering under my furious glare, James pulls a blanket over his head. Cowardly… coward. Take THAT!

Sirius looks a little… ruffled? I'm not sure… dazed, more like. With his hair all over the place. A little scary, even. And Peter looks nervous. But then again, he _always_ looks nervous. Tiny eyes darting from James to Sirius, Peter blurts out, "We were studying!"

I raise my eyebrows. "Studying?" I say in a rather McGonagall-ish way. It's freaky how authoritative I can sound sometimes.

James pulls the blanket off his head, and he and Sirius slowly turn their heads to look at Peter, sending him a "what-the-hell-are-you-thinking" look. I agree… I mean… studying? He really is an idiot. I don't understand why Sirius and James and Remus hang out with him… they're so much smarter than him. And in James's case, better looking. Like, _a lot_ better looking.

Eliza isn't really helping this stern conversation along. I think she's just glad to have found Sirius… what a crap friend.

"You were studying?" I repeat (still McGonagall-ish-ly).

"Well… yeah," says James lamely, still looking at Peter as though he'd never seen a more disgusting piece of idiotness. (Okay, it was more of a confused look; I just added that disgusting idiotness bit. Is idiotness even a word?)

"We lost track of time?" Sirius said in a most un-Sirius-like up-talkish way (stupid half question phrases!).

I stare at them doubtfully.

"It's true," piped in Peter unhelpfully.

WHY aren't they telling me! First the map, now this. Grr.

Oh wait. I remember that whole map ordeal… and how James told Sirius about almost telling me… and them talking about how I was nosy… this is my perfect opportunity to prove that I'm not nosy! I mean really, if they're going through all this trouble to hide it from me, it _must_ be something important, and something they probably expect me to badger them about because they think I'm _so_ nosy. Grr. But, as I was saying, I think I'll just pretend like I don't care! And then maybe James will eventually tell me… _and_ I'll get rid of my nosy reputation (that isn't true, by the way… I'm not nosy!). I'm such a good plan-comer-uper-with-er. Sweet word.

"All right," I say.

Eliza, James, Sirius, and Peter all turn to stare at me, looking surprised, suspicious, and confused. I'm not nosy!

"Excuse me," says Sirius, pretending to be picking something out of his ear, "what was that, Lily?"

"I said that's fine that you were doing homework. As long as Dumbledore doesn't catch us slacking off on our patrols… then it doesn't matter to me," I say, trying to hide the "TELL ME NOW" that my brain is currently screaming. 

They stare at me, dumbfounded. I'M NOT NOSY!

"C'mon, Eliza," I say, "we've got some homework of our own to do."

Nodding slowly, Eliza follows me out of the room, and we leave James, Sirius, and Peter staring suspiciously after us.

…

**A/N: Dun dun dun dun! I hope you guys have liked this whole nosy thing… I might be overdoing it, but it's basically just what goes on in my mind when people are hiding things. Yep, I'm nosy… but oh well. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated… school… fun stuff. But yeah, I was looking at my reviews, and I realized that I haven't replied to any of them in forever! Which is weird, because usually I'm just like "REVIEWS OH MY GAWWWD!" So. Here we go…**

Eliniel--- I WANT TEATIME!** Aurora-sakura--- **Haha, sorry I'm so bad at writing long chapters… this one was 1 page longer than usual! YAY!** Sirius Black and Remy--- **Haha thanks.** THE-OH-SO-PERFECT-WITCH--- **You sound so much like me! I'll be reading fanfics, and then I'll just burst out laughing, which must seem pretty weird to everyone around me… but yeah, I never thought my story'd make someone laugh like that! So thank you! I changed it to Romance/Humor finally… before it was just Romance because I was afraid that people would read it and be like "what the heck, this isn't funny…" and. Yeah, haha. ** Elven-jewel-18--- **Haha, thank you… I've got a couple more ideas for the next few chapters… I don't know how I'd end it, so it'll probably be a while.** Just Another Harry Potter Fan--- **Thanks! Hope you like this chapter.** Emmanuelle Lisselle Grey--- **Glad you liked it! Thanks for the reviews!** Briee--- **Haha, thank you! I've just started your new story--- it's really good!** XxStephxx--- **Thanks! I like your story a lot, too.** The all mighty and powerfulM--- **Thanks so much!** Iona--- **THANKYOU!

**Thanks to all of the reviewers! REVIEW!**


	11. Outbursts

I think I'm going insane.

Really.

_Not _being nosy? What was I thinking! I am the nosiest person in the world! It drives me crazy if I don't know what Mum's making for dinner! But somehow I came to the conclusion that I could stand not asking about some super secret ---hey, that alliterates! --- thing that James wasn't telling me!

Scratch my previous comment. I already _was_ insane.

I'm just going more insane.

"… isn't that right, Ms. Evans?" comes Professor McGonagall's voice from somewhere north of me. Oh damn, I'm in class, aren't I (I really am insane)?

"Er--- yeah, perfectly true!" I say. That was a good one. I'm good. I rock. I _rule_. Oh, wait, we're in Transfiguration--- I stink at Transfiguration. I stink. I suck. I---

"Do you even have any idea what I was saying, Ms. Evans?" says McGonagall, rolling her eyes.

"Well… kind of?" I say. Uh-oh.

McGonagall narrows her eyes at me, and then (thank gawd) continues her lecture. I guess I should pay attention, considering, you know, I stink at Transfiguration, and listening might actually help a bit. Well, probably not, considering I've been listening religiously for years and I _still_ have trouble turning matches into needles, but I might as well listen anyways. Just for fun. Wait a second, for _fun_? Insanity.

"…and this particular human transfiguration spell must be nonverbal."

I hate nonverbal spells… bad incident in sixth year, don't ask.

"But why must it be nonverbal, Professor McGonagall?" pipes up Peter Pettigrew.

Excellent question! I've never really understood why some spells don't work when said verbally; it honestly doesn't make any sense. I'd ask, but, you know, I'm Head Girl; it'd look bad if I didn't know this stuff. I mean, _third_ years would probably understand it, and their stupid little buggers. Crap. I just called myself stupid. I guess I already knew I was, though, so no matter. I'm stupid, I'm insane… my life is so pitiful.

Professor McGonagall is looking at Peter with pity, which is weird and uncharacteristic, but whatever. As long as she gets to the explaining part, I won't complain. "Because, dear, nonverbal spells are used when less power is needed. If used verbally, the transfiguration of a finger to a toothbrush, for instance, may cause the finger to disappear completely. Does that make sense?" she asks kindly.

YES, IT DOES! I GET IT! I GET IT! OH MY FREAKING GAWD, I _GET _IT!

Holy mother of toothbrushes, did I say that out loud! Did I _scream_ that out loud!

The entire classroom is staring at me like I'm insane (which I know that I am, but _they're_ not supposed to!). But this is worse than just randomly yelling things out in the middle of class; I'm admitting that I didn't get it before! Which is _bad_!

Suddenly, James bursts into laughter and falls off his chair. That bastard. The rest of the class turns to stare at him, leaving me sitting here, mortified. I did _not_ just do that.

I look at the clock. Only one more minute until the bell rings. Times not playing jokes on me now! HAHA!

You know what, never mind. It is. How long can sixty seconds possibly take! I'll busy myself by chucking my things into my bag.

Thirty more seconds. Holy _crap_ this is taking forever. RING YOU STUPID BELL! RING!

Looking helplessly around the classroom, I realize that James is lying on the floor limply, shaking with silent laughter. What a loser. At least he distracted the rest of the class from staring at me.

Muuuuuuuurrrrrp.

THE BELL! THANK GAWD!

Shoving Peter out of my way, I sprint out of the classroom. Must. Get. AWAY!

"Lily! Hey, LILY!"

Turning around, I realize that James must have picked himself up off the floor. Where he had been laughing at me. Bastard. Turning around, I continue to walk briskly towards my destination, which is…? Anywhere. Just anywhere.

"Lily!" yells James, catching up with me. It's those damn long legs of his. I hate long legs. Stupid laughing, long-legged person who I happen to be going out with!

"What?" I say in an angry and terrifying voice. All right, it wasn't angry or terrifying at all, because I'm not really angry at James, I'm just frustrated. About the whole nosy thing. Oh, and the random outburst I just had.

Catching sight of my face, which is trying its hardest to muster up some anger into it; James screws up his face, fighting back what I can only assume are furious peals of laughter. Darn you, James Potter. Darn you.

"Listen, Lily," says James in an odd, I'm-holding-back-my-laughter-so-you-won't-get-mad-voice. "I was just--- do you want to---"

I roll my eyes. "Go ahead," I tell him resentfully. He really does look funny.

James bursts into laugher (yet again) making a strange "caw"-ing noise, and bending over double. People all around the hall are turning to stare at us. Oh joy.

I lean against the corridor wall and fold my arms, watching James wipe tears out of his eyes. "Done?" I ask, as he momentarily pauses.

"Yeah," he says, panting. "Yeah"--- he giggles in a very un-James-ish way--- "I'm all right."

"Good. What is it you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh. Right. I was just wondering if you were busy after patrols tonight. There's something I want to show you."

Ohh! Could this be the mysterious mystery that I, _un_- nosy Lily am not able to solve? "Nope, I'm not busy!" I say eagerly. "What is it that you want to show me?"

"Oh, nothing much," he says nonchalantly, eyes sparkling, as he smoothes out some wrinkles on his shirt.

Hmm…

"Well, I've best be off," says James. "Meeting Sirius in the kitchens." And with that, he leans in, gives me a quick kiss, and goes striding down the corridor, with a bit of a swagger.

Darn that boy. Oh well, I'd rather find out tonight that never. He'd _better_ be showing me that … secret… thing. Or else. But really, would I know if he didn't? Ah well, as long as he shows me _something_ secret… ish… or tells me what he and the Marauders have been up to, then I won't care.

Setting off, I walk down the corridor with a bit of a swagger myself.

**A/N: Just to let you all know, some of these… incidents… are based on real-life situations that I, myself, have experienced… don't expect me to tell you which, though, heheh. I've got a couple more chapter ideas in mind, but I think I'll be ending it pretty soon… unless any of you have some more ideas for chapters? Let me know!**

Emmanuelle Lisselle Grey--- **Nope, no studying going on for the Marauders on that night... hehe … but don't worry, I'm planning on having James explain it all to Lily in the next few chapters, before she explodes. **Janine--- **Thanks for letting me know! I make the weirdest typos, haha. **Briee--- **Yep… I'm trying to stretch the whole "tell-me-now" period as long as I can, but James'll tell her everything soon enough.**

Thanks to Chuito, Heiress-To-The-Dark-Throne, tee hee, Hurleygurl, MissMarauder5, and The All Mighty and PowerfulM for reviewing!

Review!


	12. RofR

Guess who's going to see/hear James's secret in three minutes?

THAT'S RIGHT. IT'D BE ME.

And guess what? Time _really_ isn't playing jokes on me today. I mean really. I sat down to my homework after dinner thinking that it would be FOREVER until patrols, but nope… time just WHIZZED by! _And_ I finished my transfiguration essay. Yep, everything is on my side today.

Two more minutes!

Time loves me. Really, it does.

I think I'll pack up my backpack. I'm sick of always being early to these patrols, it makes me look… eager. And that's not what I'm going for this time. Remember? I'm patient, calm, _un_-nosy Lily Evans.

(HA.)

Or that's what James is supposed to thing, anyway.

One more minute!

Yep, I'm just going to calmly put away my quills… and my ink… and my parchment…

IT'S NINE THIRTY. I'VE GOT TO GO.

"Hey, Lily, could you---" starts Andra.

"NOOO!" I say, hurling myself out of the room and sprinting down the stairs.

And, unfortunately, James happens to be waiting at the bottom of the stairs, watching me as I fling myself into the common room, which pretty much ruins any possibility of anyone ever thinking that I am patient, calm, and _un_- nosy.

But screw everyone, I don't care.

Can't you just picture me at my Nosy People Anonymous group 20 years from now?

"MY NAME IS LILY, AND I AM AN OBSESSIVELY NOSY PERSON."

But anyways. James looks like he's holding back a laugh, though these days he always does when he's around me. If I didn't like him so much I would _so_ dump him. I guess that's true with all couples though… hmm… I'm such a loser…

You know what? I really need to stop with all these self put-downs. They're really pitiful… and… mean spirited. Geeze. I think me and… myself… need to pay a visit to a counselor, because some of the things I say… just hurt…

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I'm going to stop now.

"Lily? Are you ready to go?" says James, looking at me cautiously. Crap. I was doing that stupid hand motions thing again, wasn't I? I'm surprised that James doesn't dump me; I mean who wants an insane girlfriend like me?

"Sure."

Smiling at me, James clasps my hand, and leads me towards the portrait hole.

I really am insane… I hope James doesn't suddenly dump me or anything, because really, as much as I… think… the contrary, I really would miss not getting to hold his hand…

"You'renotgoingtobreakupwithmeareyou?" I blurt out suddenly.

WAY TO SOUND LIKE A WORRY-WART, LILY!

James stops and stares at me like I'm insane.

I slump against the wall, looking down. I guess that's a 'yes.'

"Lily," says James softly.

… I continue looking down… LILY YOU LOSER YOU COULD HAVE HAD ANOTHER MOMENT OR TWO BEFORE HE TOLD YOU THE BAD NEWS!

"Lily, look at me," James whispers, taking his hand and raising my chin with it. Reluctantly, I look into his stupid, hazel, dumping eyes. "Lily, what ever gave you the idea that I'd break up with you?"

I look down. Boy, this will sound stupid. What was the reason, anyway?

"Was it Sirius?" James asks sharply, looking as though he would like to pummel Sirius about now.

"No!" I say, not wanting Sirius to lose his nose, which would make Andra mad/sad, which would make her turn to me for ever giving James the stupid idea that he had said anything that wasn't along the lines of "James thinks you rock." And… yeah. Okay. Here goes…

"Then what is it, Lily? Did I do something?"

"NO!" I shout. "Are you insane! You've been wonderful, James! How could you ever think otherwise?"

"Well, how could _you_ think I'd break up with you?" he asks incredulously.

It does sound stupid now.

"It's just… well… I was having a fight with--- someone --- and they pointed out some of my, er, _strange_ qualities, and I, you know, thought you might not like me because of them?" My voice rises, making my entire confession sound like some stupid half-question phrase.

James laughs.

It does sound stupid now.

You know, maybe _I_ should break up with _him_. I mean, he's making me feel stupid! Maybe me, myself, and James should go to a counselor together, and talk about… feelings? Okay no. Just kidding.

James is staring at me like I'm insane (again).

STUPID INVOLUNTARY HANDMOTIONS!

I wave my hands frantically. Here we go again…

James laughs.

"You know, Lily, you do have some… _unique_… qualities, but that's what I like about you. You stand out… you don't fit that stupid stereotypical teenage-girl mold."

Aw. That was sweet. I am pretty cool, aren't I?

"And just for the record, I like your hand motioning. I just wish I could hear what's going on inside that mind of yours."

HA. Fat chance, buddy.

He smiles, and kisses me lightly.

Pulling away slowly, he says, "Now come on. I have something to show you."

AHA! The secret!

… (**A/N: I could end it right here, but then the chapter would be kind of pointless (not like they all aren't already or anything) but I'm nice, so I won't.)**…

I'm beginning to think that James is the insane one… really. Or just a close second; I'm a bit hard to beat.

"What are we _doing_ James?" I ask as he doubles back once we reach the end of the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry.

"You'll see," he says, his brow wrinkled with a look of concentration on his face.

Raising my eyebrows doubtfully, I follow him as he turns around again and once more, when suddenly.

"Wow," I whisper, as a door pops up onto the wall. "James, how did you _do_ that?"

"Magic," he says, grinning.

I let go of his hand and put my hands on my hips, leaving James looking slightly put out. He reaches for my hand, and I pull back.

"Lily," he says pleadingly.

Oh come on, it's not like holding my hand is that great. They're always so cold; James's are much better. But I'm not telling him that, of course. "Not until you tell me how you did that," I say, my nosy side coming out (okay, so maybe it's always out, it's just becoming a bit more obvious in this instance).

James gives me a sad, pleading look. But do I quail? NO, I DO NOT! Because I'm amazing like that. "All right," he agrees finally. "It's called the Room of Requirement, Sirius and I found out about it in second year."

That doesn't really explain much.

"But what---" I start.

"Just come on, Lily," says James, stepping forward and taking my hand. "You'll see once we're inside."

Walking forward, James reaches for the doorknob…

…

**A/N: Yes, I am evil. Pure, pure, evil. I would KILL someone if they did this to me. BUT. I have a reason:  
This is for all you 500 people (excluding my diligent reviewers, who I love very much, and can also participate) who read the last chapter but have NEVER LEFT A REVIEW. So, having a hard time thinking of what to say in a review? Well, you don't have to decide!**

_CONTEST_**:  
I want you all to tell **me what you think James is going to show Lily** in the Room of Requirement. So, **REVIEW** with your ideas!**


	13. Dinner

**A/N: I cannot _believe_ how many of you thought I was going to use the Room of Requirement as a place to behold some dirty James/Lily scene! ADFKHAKFLHADF. They've been going out for a week! _A week_! And, as Vicki said, it would totally ruin the story. Totally. So yeah. Contest winners at the bottom!  
When we last left Lily**:

Walking forward, James reaches for the doorknob…

…

… and pulls the door open (which shouldn't be that surprising, considering it was the doorknob he was reaching for).

And… OH MY GAWD!

Just kidding. 

I can't actually see anything; James is kind of blocking my view, but apparently he hasn't noticed, because he's just turned around, smiling, and said, "Well?"

"I can't see anything, you twit," I say, pushing past him and rolling my eyes. "Oh my gawd," I whisper, amazed. "James--- what is this?"

James comes up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "I told you," he says quietly, and I turn around, seeing his eyes shining in the light, "it's the Room of Requirement. It can turn into anything you want."

James steps in front of me, and offers me his hand. "Shall we?" he asks, grinning.

"We can walk in here? We won't fall?" I ask suspiciously.

"Of course not," says James, and he leads me inside the room.

This is the most surreal thing I have ever encountered in my life. Ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. I could continue saying ever for--- ever--- you know, but I don't think I will, just to save my sanity.

But really, if I knew an hour ago that I'd be standing in some room that looked like it held the contents of the entire outer space inside of it… I wouldn't have believed it.

Looking around, I see what looks like Mars off to my left, a shooting star going by beneath James and my feet, and the moon directly overhead. I've always loved astronomy…The only thing that reveals that we're not actually standing in the middle of outer space is the small, white door that we came through directly behind us.

"James," I breathe, "this is… amazing."

I turn to James, and see that he's positively beaming at me. "This is just the beginning, my dear," he says, leading me over to a candlelit table that I swear wasn't there five seconds ago.

"Now where's that house elf?" mutters James.

Out of nowhere comes trotting a hideously ancient elf that looks freakishly familiar.

OH MY GAWD.

Is that?

"Pubert?" I ask, spinning around to get a better look at… it?

"At your service, Madam," says Pubert in a deep, hoarse voice, which is really weird, because I've never heard a house elf talk in anything deeper than a low soprano.

"Don't you remember Pubert from our excursion to the kitchens, Lily?" says James, sounding like he's holding back a laugh.

"Distinctively," I say. "Where's Lilykins?" I ask, remembering the disturbing name of the more house elf-ish like house elf from our kitchen jaunt.

"Oh, I thought I'd let it just be us and Pubert tonight," says James, "because I knew he was your… favorite… from last time." He grinned evilly at me.

More like he would be my favorite choice if I wanted an award winning monster for some horror movie, but whatever.

"How… _kind_… of you," I say.

"My pleasure," says James, with his evil grin. "So, dear Lily, what is it that you wish to feast upon tonight?"

"Hmm… maybe something… festive?" I say. Is festive the right word to describe a food that would have something to do with being in outer space, when you're currently under the illusion that you are?

"Certainly," says James, though sounding doubtful that there was anything festive for this particular atmosphere. "What did you have in mind?"

Hmm. Good question. Okay. What has anything to do with outer space… outer space, outer space… looking around, I see some funky looking thing that looks like an upside-down triangle… uhmm… BLADDER!

"BLADDER!" I say suddenly.

"Bladder?" asks James and Pubert.

"Yeah!" I say enthusiastically. "Like that triangular thing out there!" I point to the triangle thingy.

"Oh," says James bemusedly, cocking his head to the side. "What does that have to do with a bladder?"

"Well, isn't that what shape a bladder is?" I say, in an air of explaining that one plus one, indeed, equals two.

"Pubert means no disrespect, but would like to mention that a bladder is not very triangular," said Pubert hoarsely.

Oh come on, like _he_ would know better than _me_.

James and I turn to stare at Pubert, at which he says, "Let me show miss." With a snap, a my plate is now holding some weird, gooey… thing.

"So _that_'s a bladder," says James in an interested voice. Boys… so disgusting.

"Uhh, yeah, and it's on my _plate_!" I half-shout. Bladder! On my plate! My PLATE!

Pubert snaps his fingers, and the bladder disappears. But I am _not_ using that plate.

"No offense, Lily," starts James, "but that really didn't look anything like that triangular shaped… thing."

"I guess," I say, disgusted at having been wrong. I was sure a bladder was triangular! Dang it. I turn to explain this to James, because he must know. "Well, I always pictured the bladder as this triangular shaped object, with the texture similar to an onion," I say knowledgably, sounding very professional.

James and Pubert turn to stare at me with their mouths open.

What?

OH!

"In navy blue," I add earnestly.

They're still staring at me. Oh come on, that wasn't _that_ insane. I had to have gotten that idea from somewhere, I mean navy triangular onion textured objects don't just pop into one's mind out of nowhere.

"But what does that have to do with an onion?" says James finally.

Uhm. 

"What's for dinner?" I ask Pubert, casually picking up my formerly-containing-a-BLADDER plate, and switching it with James's nice, clean, shiny, never-once-came-in-contact-with-a-bladder plate.

"What are you doing?" asks James suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," I say nonchalantly. "What's for dinner?"

James looks at me calculatingly, then slowly says, "I was thinking spaghetti. Eliza told Sirius that it was your favorite."

"Brilliant!" I say. I love spaghetti! Eliza sure is good, I'll give her that.

"Right away, then, Pubert," says James, nodding to the house elf. Pubert nods back, and then disappears with a snap of his fingers.

"So," says James, "did you like my choice of dining?"

"Yes!" I say, looking enthusiastically around at our surroundings. "I've always loved astronomy."

James grins. "I know," he says… knowingly.

Wait. What? "How?" I ask hurtfully. First that Pubert freaks me out, then the spaghetti, now the stars… DOES HE KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME! IT'S LIKE I CAN'T HAVE ANY SECRETS ANYMORE!

Catching my contorted face, James grins. "Eliza told me."

Damn you, Eliza. Damn you. See if I tell YOU any of my secrets anymore (I won't, by the way (never, ever, ever!)).

I look grumpily around at the solar system which I previously enjoyed. It's just not as cool when everyone knows that you like it… I wonder why. Instead, I set to the task of pondering where in the world my idea of a bladder came from. Hmm…

I gaze back at the table, catching James flattening the table cloth. Odd… bladder, bladder, navy…

"Dinner is served," says Pubert, reappearing with a GIANORMOUS platter of spaghetti. I eagerly dig in to the spaghetti, dolloping a… well proportioned amount onto my plate. James looks surprised, then, shrugging, helps himself to some spaghetti.

Bladder, bladder, onion…

I take a bite, and, chewing slowly, I turn to look at James. He's staring at me. Really carefully. This cannot be good. Gulping my food down carefully, I say, "What?"

James smiles. "Oh, nothing," he says casually, turning to his own plate.

WHAT GODDAMNIT!

"_James_."

"Nothing!" he says, laughing.

"TELL ME NOW OR I WILL CURSE YOU INTO MARS!"

"Well, actually, that's impossible, because we're just---"

"_James_," I say warningly.

James smiles. "Oh, all right," he says. "If you're sure you want to know, that is. I doubt you'll like it."

"Knowing you, prankster extraordinaire, probably not. BUT TELL ME!"

James laughs. "All right! Iswitchedourplateswhileyouweren'tlooking," he says very quickly.

"Erm--- what?" I ask.

He smiles evilly. "I switched our plates back."

YOU! YOU! I JUST DIGESTED BLADDER!

"You… you… _switched_… our---" I splutter.

Wait. HANG ON.

Switched… _switched_… bladder…

Comprehension dawns on my face. "Professor Titchy," I say quietly."

James makes a face. "That's an odd name."

"No," I say, "it was _Titchy_ who taught us that bladders were navy! Professor Titchy, from grade two!"

"Oh," says James, looking confused (which looks utterly adorable on him, by the way). "So?"

"So," I say. "It means I'm not completely insane!"

"Oh," says James, still looking puzzled. "Spaghetti?"

…

**A/N: Dun dun dun. This is kind of… uhmm… there's some information that I'm not really sure if I need to tell you guys or not, so I guess I won't. But I'll give you this: some of you might be confused right now, so if you are, then good, you probably should be, but STAY TUNED. And if you're not and have no idea what I'm talking about… then… erm… never mind. It'll all be sorted out in the next chapter. ANYWAY. This chapter's really long! Like five pages! I'm amazing, I know.**

My guilt trip really got people to review last time! It wasn't really meant to be a guilt trip, though; it just kind of ended up that way. Speaking of which,

All you other hundreds of viewers have to review now! It's your turn! OR I'LL CRY! Haha just kidding… but really, review

**  
Reviews for chapters 11 and 12:  
**thatwasthelasttheyeversawofher**--- Mwahaha. It will be ending soon enough, but I've got a new story idea for, like, as soon as this one's over, so don't worry! And yes, haha, it was just the voice in Lily's head. **Elven-jewel-18**--- Thanks! I actually don't know what the whoosing noise was… it was just a space filler; it's never really going to fill a purpose or anything. But props to you for noticing it! **Emmanuelle Liselle Grey**--- Haha thanks! I don't think there are any bells at Hogwarts… at least I don't remember… but yep, personal touch, haha. Keep reading! **Briee**--- Yep, real life situations… they probably were funny, depending on which end you were on… more traumatic than anything for me, though, haha. Glad you like the story! I'm really enjoying yours, too. **SuperSpy**--- I'm glad you like it! Your review meant a lot to me, considering I'm like completely in LOVE with your stories. Keep reading! **Maria Cachucha**--- Haha, perfectly fine, I'm just glad you're enjoying the story! Good luck with school! **Vicki**--- AKFHAKFDHLADFLHAFDH. Of course not! But I agree, it does ruin a story. I hate it when a scene like that is placed in some super well-written fic. **Chuito**--- Bleh. I don't understand why people want to write stories like that… but I guess if it's suits them, then they should go for it? Haha.**

Thanks also to aurora-sakura**, the **all might and powerfulMhurleygurlwaterdreamerthe-oh-so-perfect-witch, .v.i.k.s.beckus** for reviewing! If I forgot anyway, then I am terribly sorry, and you're welcome to leave me angry reviews telling me how horrible I am.**

Contest Winners!  
Briee **was half right… it _was_ a candlelit dinner… But the winner isssssssssss…. **elven-jewel-18**! It was dinner, and it was romantic… ish… and it was moonlight! Because they were in space! Hahahaha. Okay yeah. But congrats to elven-jewel-18 for being a good guesser!**

REVIEW!


	14. Tricked the Slick

**QUESTION: What the heck is this little review reply thingy that I've noticed? How does it work? What does it do? GAH!**

**I am sooo insanely sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. It wasn't really that long I guess… like 2 weeks… but I still feel horrible. I don't want to hurry it up though, because it's ending at 15 chapters. AND THIS IS THE 14TH! Adjfhkjafdkhkadfh. I might write a nice little **_epilogue_** if I get enough reviews… hint hint…**

Chapter 14

"You told him you thought bladders were _navy_?" asks Andra incredulously.

"I told you," I say crossly, "it was Professor Titchy that planted that idea in my mind. From grade two."

Andra has serious listening problems, really. 

"Besides, it's not _that_ far-fetched. I'm sure the human anatomy consists of many navy organs," I say thoughtfully.

Andra raises an eyebrow. "Uhm, no."

Psh. Shows what _she_ knows. I remember learning about that from grade two… we're filled with organs consisting of a rainbow of colors… lime, lilac, maroon, burgundy… I mean really, who doesn't know that?

"Yes," I say wearily, "yes, inner organs are very colorful."

Andra opens her mouth and closes it. "Never mind."

We both sigh.

Wait… why is _she_ sighing? _I'm _sighing because I know one of my best friends is out of her mind. I bet Andra thinks she's right. Poor girl. I'll let her have her fantasies, though. That's what friends are for.

"I suppose it's time for us to get to bed," I say. I wonder if Andra needs any help getting ready? She seems to be a bit… special… tonight (with the whole thinking internal organs _aren't _colorful). "Need any help?" I ask Andra kindly.

Andra stares at me. "Erm… no. I wonder where Eliza is."

"Eliza," I growl softly. TRAITOR.

"What is it?"

"She told James _stuff_. About me."

Andra snorted. "What could she tell him?"

Let me ponder that thought… Uhh, she told him about my spaghetti liking! And my outer space fascination! Those are _private_ details; friends aren't supposed to share that information with your boyfriend! That's like, friendship rule number one! And Eliza has broken it! _Broken it_! Shattered it into tiny pieces! And then stomped on them! In tap dancing shoes! And she had Sirius help!

"Uhh… Lily? Are you all right?" asks Andra.

Oh, right. Hand motioning. Facial contortions. These are starting to become a major problem. People are going to start thinking I'm insane or something! Haha. Imagine that.

"Well… G'night, Lily," says Andra cautiously.

What's she so afraid of? I bet she thinks I'm insane. Everyone seems to be under that illusion lately. I blame James.

James… he's really not bad at planning dinners, you know. If only he didn't use your traitor of a friend's information to make it better… it did help, though… hum…

…

Lemons… meringue…

"Lily!"

Mmm… pie…

"LILY!"

Shut up… lemons…

"AARGH!" I yell as freezing cold water devours my entire body. "WHAT!" I shout, sitting up and looking around wildly. "What was that for?" I ask, spotting Eliza.

"You weren't waking up!" she says simply.

"Oh… well that makes sen---" 

Wait.

"It's Saturday, you twit," I say.

"So?" asks Eliza.

"Well, then there's no reason to wake up early," I say impatiently, gesturing at the clock, which reads 7:35.

"But I had to find out about your date!"

Oh. She wanted to know about _me_. Well, I guess that's okay. I just wish I wasn't wet…

Eliza whispers something, and all of the sudden I'm warm and dry.

"How did you---" I ask.

"Hand gestures," Eliza says simply.

"Ahh." The obsessive motioning. Big problem, I tell you. "Well, what do you want to know?" I ask smugly. I feel special!

"Just… how it went," says Eliza nonchalantly. _Too_ nonchalantly. Hmm. "What'd you have for dinner?"

"Spa---"

AHA!

"AHA!" I say. "You're just dying to know if your _traitorishness_ worked!"

I am so clever.

"'Traitorishness'?" asks Eliza confusedly. "All I did was tell the man you liked spaghetti."

SHE'S A TRAITOR I TELL YOU!

I cough. "Traitor." I cough again, twice. Slick, Lily, slick.

"Oh, how very _slick_ of you," says Eliza, rolling her eyes.

Told you I was slick.

"But if you were _half_ as slick as you think you are"--- how does she know that I know that I'm slick? --- "then you would realize that you've been fooled," Eliza continues.

I stare at her blankly.

Tricked? Me?

"What?"

Eliza's smirking now. Smirking is not good. Especially on Eliza.

WHAT IS SHE ON ABOUT!

I grunt.

Not what I was aiming for, but I think I got my point across.

Eliza folds her arms. "Do you even remember what you were anticipating about your dinner last night?"

"Of course I do," I say automatically.

"And that would be?"

"Uhm," I say.

Eliza's smirk widens.

You know what, I don't even know why I'm friends with that smirking, arm folding, traitor that's currently pestering me. That's all she ever does! PESTER. (That's such a cool word, by the way. Like PUBERT. Only that's not a word. And it's not really cool. So, uhmm, never mind.)

"Do the letters M-A-P mean anything to you, Lily?" asks Eliza, rolling her eyes.

"Nothing at all," I say truthfully. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know why we put up with her," says Andra, coming in from the bathroom. "And to think _she's _Head Girl!"

My friends are terrible. I mean, if they were _good_ friends, they'd insult me behind my back. I really need to get them a friendship manual or something, because they're definitely lacking in certain departments.

"Yeah, and this hand motioning habit she's acquired lately!" says Eliza. "I think it's James; she's been acting even odder than usual since they started going out."

"Yeah! And the way she's always---"

"Can we get back on topic, please?" I say, irritated.

"Right," says Eliza, shaking her head. "So you don't remember the map at all?"

I shake my head. Would I really be at the mercy of _you_ if I did? Honestly, woman.

"You were freaking out about it a week ago," says Andra. "Before patrols. Remember? After you got the news about the Ministry break-in? Does this sound familiar at all?" she says, adopting a kindly tone that would be fitting if you were conversing with an extremely dim-witted four year-old.

"I'm really not catching on here, so if you could just _tell _me what you're on about---"

"You know what?" says Eliza, smirking _even more_. "I don't think we should. I mean, if you don't remember, then what's the point in causing the trouble? I'm sure James would prefer it if you didn't remember about the _map_, since he was so content on keeping it quiet earlier."

NOOOO!

They HAVE to tell me! THEY HAVE TO, DAMNIT!

"Ohhhhh," I say, playing along. "The _map_. Why didn't you say so?"

"So you _do_ remember!" says Eliza.

(Heheheh.)

"I knew you would," Eliza says, while Andra surveys me suspiciously.

"So you remember that James was going to tell you why he didn't show up for patrols that one night? And about that mysterious 'map'?" Eliza asks earnestly.

I do now sucka.

"Now I do!" I say, stepping past an appalled Eliza and into the bathroom.

"I can't _believe_ you fell for that! You're so thick, Eliza, honestly," I hear Andra saying exasperatedly.

I sure am slick.

… **(A/N: Normally, I'd end it here, but I don't want to make the last chapter too scrunched together, so I'll keep going a little ways. Remember—lots of reviewsepilogue!)**…

All right.

So now it's time to find James.

And demand that he tell me about the map and his absence at patrols.

You know, as much as I'd like to plead their idiocy/insanity (which is saying something, since I'm, you know, Lily), it's really a good thing I have Eliza and Andra, or else James would have fooled me without me ever knowing!

Okay. So. Where would I go on a Saturday if I was James?

Library?

Nah.

Kitchens?

Maybe, but it's too soon after breakfast.

Quidditch Pitch?

Bingo.

…

"Hey, Lily," says James, flying over to where I'm sitting in the stands. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing much," I say casually. "What are you doing down here alone? Where's Sirius?"

"I'm not sure… inside somewhere, probably. I just wanted to come down alone, to, you know, clear my mind. I'm glad you could join me, though," he adds, flashing me a gorgeous smile.

I smile back tentatively. I am such a goner.

Must be strong, Lily! Weaklings don't get information about maps!

"But anyways," I say abruptly. "I just remembered that you never told me about that map of yours!"

James furrows his brow. "What map?"

DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME, BOY!

"You know, that one you were talking about in the Astronomy Tower the other day," I say. "I was just wondering, you know, not to be nosy, or anything…"

James grins. "Oh, of course not. Well, I guess I could show you tonight? That is, if you _really_ want to know. It's honestly nothing special."

"You seemed pretty worried about it when you were talking about it," I say, pressing for information.

"It's nothing, really," says James, smiling reassuringly. "Just a little secret."

Bwahaha. Secret.

I look at him pleadingly. Work the magic, emerald eyes!

James sighs. "But I guess it's time I told you; you deserve to know, since it's probably going to affect you, too."

"As long as you don't mind," I say quickly.

"Nah, its fine. I'll tell you about it during patrols. There are just a couple of things I have to set straight with the boys first, that's all."

He tore his eyes from me, gazing over the Hogwarts grounds.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it," he says quietly. "I'm really going to miss it next year…"

Turning back to me, he says, "Come on, I'll give you a ride back to the castle."

…

**A/N: Dun dun dun dun! Anyways, I'm thinking the ending will be more romantic (ahem… sappy) then humorous, but if I _do_ end up writing an epilogue, I have a good comedy plan for that. So. Anyways. Hope this made a little bit of sense.**

REVIEW!


	15. Peak of Nosiness

**A/N: I am so incredibly sorry it's actually taken me this long. And I could ramble off a big long apology complete with reasons and excuses … but I've made you all wait two months to read this, so I shan't put it off any longer than I have to.**

BUT. I must say this:  
This is not the final chapter.

I thought it would be, I really wanted it to end at 15 (I have this strange thing against things ending at weird numbers, like 17, or 9 or something, don't ask me why…) but it's just too hard to pack everything into this one chapter, it just won't fit. And… you'll see. You'll just… see.

This is it.

The moment we've all been waiting for.

(When I say "we," I mean it in a there's-really-only-one-person-that's-waiting-for-this-moment-but-admiting-that-would-make-it-sound-way-less-important way.)

I open the door and casually start walking down the staircase to meet James for our date.

Wait.

Casually.

And I wasn't even _trying_ to be casual. I just… _was_.

Oh. No.

It can't be.

My nosiness has peaked.

I'm not nosy anymore!

NO.

Nosiness can't peak. HA! That's impossible. Almost laughable, even! (Actually, it _is_ laughable, considering that I just said "HA!" about five seconds ago. Though that was a sarcastic "HA," which I suppose doesn't even_ count_---)

Nosiness can't peak! It can't. It won't. That would completely ruin EVERYTHING. Then I would have forced James to tell me his secret that he didn't even want to tell me and it would have been pointless because I don't even care anymore!

No. It hasn't peaked. And, even if it did, I'd still be interested in finding out a _secret_! This is Lily Evans! I love secrets!

Except. I don't really seem to be wondering, or caring, much about this one.

Oh, crap.

NOSINESS CAN'T PEAK!

Where's Andra! I _need_ Andra!

Turning quickly around from the spot where I had halted on the stairs, I sprint (a bad decision, considering my SKIRT is now riding up my BUTT, but at least this is the girls' staircase, and not like, uhmm, the tarantula's staircase?) back up to my dorm to find Andra looking at her magazine, who is not even _noticing_ the fact that my skirt is hitched up somewhere around my upper thigh, I'm completely out of breath, and my perfectly de-frizzed hair is now all over the place.

"Andra!" I say, panting.

"Yes?" asked Andra, still looking at her magazine.

"Can… can…"

(this is going to sound _so_ stupid)

"Can what?" says Andra, still looking at her blasted magazine.

"CAN NOSINESS PEAK!" I blurt out suddenly. Ah. Feels so good to get that off my chest. 

Andra lets out a tremendously loud "HA!", and bends over in peals of laughter.

"_What_?" I say indignantly. I'm having some sort of mid-teen _crisis_ here, and _she's_ decided that _this_ is her moment to start laughing like a mad scientist!

Shaking with laughter, Andra weakly points to her magazine, a copy of _The Quibbler_, which is now lying face down on the floor.

"Why are you reading _The Quibbler_? Everyone knows that's total rubbish," I ask, irritated.

Andra responds by laughing even harder. Wow, her face is red. 

Reluctantly, I pick up the magazine and look at the page that Andra's been reading.

"When Nosiness Peaks," by Alfredo Finnegan.

"Seems like _The Quibbler_'s finally printed out a worthwhile article," I mutter, skimming through the article.

Andra, who's stopped laughing, wipes tears from her eyes with an exasperated "_Lily_!"

"What?" I say absentmindedly, still looking at the article.

"You're being ridiculous! You're nosiness can't _peak_! This is just some rubbish article _The Quibbler_'s printed! Think about it, Lily. Are you _really_ not interested in what James's secret is?"

Well… I don't really… SECRET.

"There's that maniacal eye glint I know and love," says Andra. "Now go find out that secret!" she says, sounding like some crazy type of motivating sports team coach, completing her insanity with a violent air punch.

"You're right!" I say, pulling my skirt down to its proper length, and heading out the door.

"Lily, you're _late_ for your _date_!" I hear Sirius Black calling up the stairs. Goodness, he's strange.

Bounding down the last few steps in a rather Lily-wants-to-know-a-secret-like fashion, I head over to James and Sirius, where Sirius is saying, "_Told_ you I could think of a rhyme in ten seconds."

James is looking over at me with his eyes sparkling. He doesn't _look_ like he's dreading telling me his secret.

"You look beautiful," he says, smiling and offering me his hand. "Shall we go?"

I nod happily (he's gonna tell me the _secret_!), and with an odd sort of skip, I walk with him out of the portrait hole.

"Where're we going?" I ask him excitedly.

"Oh, I thought we'd catch a moon-me," he says in a casual yet slightly unsure voice.

_Excuse_ me? A—a moon _what_?

Seeing me confused look, James says more confidently, "You know, a _moon_-me. Those things muggles watch with the famous people in it. Remus told me about them."

OH!

"A _movie_?" I ask, laughing.

"Same difference," James mutters, blushing slightly.

"Oh, James," I smile.

Waaaaaaaait. 

A _movie_! What about the secret! What about the thing I gained my nosiness back for! WHAT ABOUT THE MAP!

Casting a side-long glance at me, James smiles mysteriously, saying, "You'll see."

'I'll see'? What does _that_ mean? I'll see what? A butterfly? A chicken? A baboon? A flying pig?

"This way," says James, leading me up to the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry, which, by the way, looks slightly familiar, though I don't know why.

A toothpick? A record player? WHAT WILL I SEE!

"Why do we keep doubling back?" I ask James, as we pass the tapestry for the third time.

James looks at me and laughs, and heads for the door that's just appeared in the wall.

OH!

I remember this place! With the moon! And the sun! And Pubert!

James opens the door, and I lean forward, excited to see the solar system again.

But instead, what I see is a huge room, with many red squishy seats, all facing towards one of the biggest screens I've ever seen.

We're at the moon-mes! I mean. Movies.

"This is incredible!" I say excitedly. "I haven't been to the movies since I was six! I went with Mum, Dad, and Petunia, and we had to drive an entire hour to get to the nearest theatre, and you _know_ how impatient I get with things that take a long time, and just _imagine_ stuck in a car with your prat sister for an entire _hour_, it's quite awful, I may mention, I don't recommend you do it anytime soon, and then we got there, and bought our tickets from this completely _foul_ old lady, and walked past all these rooms in the dark, and we went into this _huge_ one, and I remember that there were _so_ many people, so we had to go up onto the balcony, and then I leaned over during a gross part and threw up _all _over this lady with a funny--"

"Uhm, Lily?" asks James, holding back a laugh. "Let's go in, shall we? I'd love to here about your moon-me --- _movie_ --- stories, but we probably should get in before someone comes along and sees us."

"Right," I say, stepping inside. I wonder what we're doing here, anyway.

James leads me towards the seats next to the projector. We sit down, and he pulls out a blanket. I smile, remembering how cold I got the last time I went to the movies.

"All right, Lily," James says, smiling. "This probably isn't going to make much sense at first—but just trust me. If you want to know about – about everything, then this is the first step. Seeing. And… you'll get it in the end. Just trust me."

I smile back at him, to reassure him that I do, indeed, know what he's talking about (though, to be truthful, I haven't got a clue).

Smiling back at me, James points his wand at the screen, and the show begins.

…

**A/N: I had the hardest time deciding where to end this chapter and begin the next (which, by the way, I have started, haha). The next chapter _should_ be the last, unless I somehow manage to make things so weird that another is necessary, but that's unlikely, so yeah, the next one's the last.**

EPILOGUE. I've decided thaaaaaat, if I get enough reviews for this chapter and the last, I shall post an epilogue. I've already got it all planned out, it'd be a shame not to post it…

REVIEW!


	16. The Moonme

**a/n: I don't even know what to say .. I'm sorry? I came back here today, and reread the story, your guys' reviews, and thought about how many people have put this on their favorite list, how many people might have been waiting for the story to finish, and I just felt awful about the whole thing. I've had a rough few months—personal things that I won't get into... but yeah, it's probably changed my writing style a bit since it's changed everything else, so if this chapter seems different, that's why. I don't even know if anyone's going to read it, or like it, but here it is. Hope it makes sense.**

The Moon-me

The film starts, focusing on (of all things) the Whomping Willow.

What the heck. I look over at James, who is staring hard at the screen, frowning. I get the feeling he doesn't like this movie much.

The camera focuses in and out on the Whomping Willow, and I'm distinctly reminded of a home video.

"OOMPH."

The camera focuses the farthest out it's been, and Peter Pettigrew (?) is lying on the ground, looking sheepish. Amidst loud laughter in the background, he mumbles, "forgot to transform…"

Transform? What?

Sirius Black comes into view (I'm so confused here), thumping Peter on the back. "Really, Wormtail, it's a mystery how someone as dense as you could even become an Animagus." 

Animagus? _What_?

I look at James, who's still frowning at the screen.

"Come on, let's hurry it up, Moony needs us."

I snap my head back to the screen to see James, holding a silvery cloak (an Invisibility Cloak? How come he never told me he had one?), which, after a wave of his wand, disappears.

"Right you are, Prongs," says Sirius. Behind him, Peter's grimacing, his fists clenched and his eyes shut. I watch as he shrinks into the form of a rat. Around him, Sirius and James do the same, taking the forms of a big, black dog and a stag.

Okay what the hell is going on. This must be some sort of dream or something—I mean, James would have told me if he was an Animagus!

I turn to look at James, who's staring at me, still frowning. He jerks his head towards the screen, and we turn back to watch the three of them enter a whole in the bottom of the tree (for some reason, the branches have stopped moving). The film seems to fast forward, until they're standing in some kind of shabby looking house. Only something's wrong. There are bite marks on the furniture, and the windows are boarded up. Instinctively, I lean closer to James, who puts his arm gently around my shoulders.

James walks forward and pushes his antlers into a door (there's a sentence I never thought I'd say), which slowly creeks open. Peter scampers in ahead of him, Sirius not far behind. The camera focuses on a bed, where a lump is shivering in the middle. Sirius paws back the covers, to reveal a grey, dog-like creature. A werewolf.

Remus.

…

The lights come back on, and the screen goes black.

That was honestly the strangest movie I have ever seen. I mean, really. Seeing your boyfriend scamper around (is that what deers do? Scamper?) with his best friends, also in animal form… I mean, wow. I'm so confused.

I turn to James, who's rubbing his forehead wearily.

"James," I say quietly.

He slowly looks up, giving a small smile. He fingers a small lock of my hair, seemingly lost in thought. "I suppose that made no bleeding sense, to you, huh."

"Well," I say, "not really."

He sighs. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out an old, grubby piece of parchment.

THE MAP!

I try to disguise my renewed excitement, giving the seriousness of the situation and all.

James taps it with his wand, mumbling something, then shoots a look at me, giving a small laugh. "I knew you'd figure it out," he says quietly.

What can I say. I'm pretty clever.

"This," he says, unfolding the map and laying it across our laps, "is the Marauder's Map. Me, Sirius, and Remus invented it. And Peter helped, a bit. It shows every person in the castle's whereabouts." He points at the dot labeled _Albus Dumbledore_, who is currently pacing his office. "It also," he says, tracing a corridor I've never seen before, "has all the secret passageways on it, too. Even the ones Dumbledore doesn't know about."

"Wow," I mutter softly. "You know, James, this could be a real help in tracking anyone who breaks into the castle. I mean, it's probably more advanced than anything even Dumbledore's come up with."

"I know," he says, sighing again. "And that's why I'm not sure what to do with it. I could turn it in, but it's definitely against the rules, and we've all worked so hard on it. But I'd kill myself if someone broke in and hurt someone, when this could have been what stopped them."

He looks really stressed, poor guy. I'm starting to feel bad for making him tell me this secret.

"Apart from the four of us blokes, you're the only one we've trusted the information with," James continues. "Peter, Sirius, and Remus reckoned we could trust you with it." He smiles. "On that note, I bet you're wondering about—about Remus, and all. About the moon-me."

I nod, not bothering to correct his slip up in muggle terminology.

"Well, Remus is a werewolf," he says bluntly.

"I figured," I say giving a small laugh.

He smiles. "Yeah. Me, Sirius, and Peter wanted to help him out, but we couldn't, being humans and all. So we found another way. It was bloody difficult, mind you." He laughs. "Sirius decided to be a dog, Peter, a rat, and me—"

"—a deer," I finish for him, smirking.

"—a _stag_," he finishes, frowning. "I'm not a _deer_, Lily. I'm not… _Bandy_ or that prancing muggle character that all the little kids love."

"Bambi," I correct him laughingly. "I love Bambi."

James cocks an eyebrow. "Got a thing for deer, eh? Well, I'll sacrifice my image and be categorized with Bambi, just for you."

I smile. "So I'm guessing that no one else knows—"

"About the whole Animagus thing? No," he says, his frown returning. "And I'd hate for Dumbledore to find out, after all he's done for Remus. No, I think it's best we keep it between us."

He pulls me closer to him. "Well, how does it feel to be in the know? No more need to be nosy anymore," he says with a smile.

"Oh, I think I'll find a way to use my nosiness," I say, "before it peaks or anything."

My gods. My thoughts are getting even more incoherent as I get closer and closer to James. Damn you James Potter, my craziness is all your fault.

James laughs. "Well, since I can trust you with this secret, I think I've got another one for you."

My heart jumps. A _secret_.

He nuzzles my cheek with his nose, and his breath tickles my ear, as I expectantly wait for the secret.

"I love you."

And before I have time to say anything back, before I can tell him that I love him, too, he presses his lips to mine, and all coherent thoughts are floating away.

I think I like this secret the best.

FIN.

…

**a/n: ta-da! Don't know how good that was, or if it even explained anything. And I want you to know that I'm completely beating myself up over this, because that "I love you" came way too unrealistically soon in the relationship, but I'll shut up before I've brought all the story's flaws to your attention. So now, I'm feeling better, because I've _finally_ finished this. And hopefully at least one person will read it and be glad it's finally finished, too.**

And an epilogue? Possibly. If I find out that anyone even cares anymore.

review?


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